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Commodities News

Up-to-date news on raw materials


FT Mercati provides subscribers with a dedicated commodities news bulletin to stay up-to-date.
Here is a selection of the latest news:

7/8/2025

INDIA’S ALUMINIUM REVOLUTION: A SIXFOLD SURGE BY 2047

At the International Conference on Sustainable and Responsible Mining, Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy unveiled the Aluminium Vision Document, signaling a strategic shift in how India views and manages one of its most vital industrial resources.
Framed within the broader Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, the roadmap lays out an ambitious plan to increase aluminium production nearly sixfold by the country’s 100th year of independence.
Despite being the world’s second-largest aluminium producer, India currently contributes only 6 per cent to the global output, underscoring a significant gap between capacity and potential. The new vision aims to bridge this gap not just by scaling production but by transforming aluminium into a central pillar of India’s sustainable development model.
To meet rising domestic and global demand, the document outlines a plan to expand aluminium production from around 4.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to nearly 37 mtpa by 2047, backed by an estimated INR 20 lakh crore (USD 241 billion) investment.

7/8/2025

BASKET OPEC PRELIMINARY PRICE

OPECNA, the news agency of OPEC, announced the OPEC Basket preliminary price
07 july = $ 69.92 /b (up from previous daily value)
(The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) introduced on 16 June 2005, is currently made up of the following: Algeria, Angola, Congo, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia , UAE and Venezuela.

7/8/2025

EU - China-focused anti-dumping measures to expire soon: will they extend beyond 2026?

The European Commission has started a review process regarding the imminent expiry of its anti-dumping duties on Aluminium from China. This decision is crucial as it will determine whether these protective measures will be extended beyond 2026. The outcome of this review has significant implications for the European Aluminium industry, which relies on these duties to protect itself against unfair competition from Chinese imports.

7/8/2025

Q3 MJP 2025 ALUMINIUM PREMIUM AT 108$, DOWN 40.7% VERSUS PRIOR QUARTER

The quarterly premium for aluminium supplied to main Japanese ports (MJP) for the third quarter of 2025 has settled at $108 per tonne over the London Metal Exchange cash price.
Producers’ offers initially began at $122-145 per tonne, with offers heard revised down 11.5-25.5% to $108 per tonne during the negotiations, before settling.
Fastmarkets settled the aluminium P1020A (MJP) quarterly premium, cif Japan at $108 per tonne on Friday July 4, $74 per tonne (40.7%) lower than that for the second quarter, which was $182 per tonne.
This marks the second consecutive decline for the quarterly premium and the quarterly premium’s lowest level since the second quarter of 2024.
Bearish sentiment within the aluminum market in Japan grew amid ongoing uncertainty during the quarterly negotiations.
Trade talks between Japan and US continue despite multiple meetings between key personnel, with the US auto tariffs a key topic for Japan.
Market participants noted the US auto tariffs’ potential impact on the Japanese auto sector and the upstream aluminium market, since the transportation sector is a key source of demand for the light metal.
In terms of end use, the transportation sector’s demand for the light metal in Japan stood at 128,100 tonnes in April 2025, down by 2.0% on a year-on-year basis, according to data from the Japan Aluminium Association.
Separately, the falling spot premiums in Asia and Europe failed to provide much support for the quarterly premiums, market participants added.

7/8/2025

CHINA - DOMESTIC REBAR PRICES RISE TO SIX-WEEK HIGH

China’s domestic rebar prices rose further on Friday July 4 to reach a six-week high, with active arbitrage trading playing a significant role in supporting the price increase.
Prices on the October rebar futures contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped on Friday.
Many traders engaged in arbitrage trading by selling short positions in the futures contract, while simultaneously purchasing rebar cargoes in the spot market.
The stronger demand in turn pushed up spot rebar prices. But some market participants expressed concerns that spot prices may follow the downward trend of futures prices in the this week.
“End-user demand in some regions of northern, southern and southwestern China has been disrupted by heavy rain and flooding over the past few days. These adverse weather conditions persisted on Friday and are forecast to continue for another one or two days. The resulting weak end-user demand is expected to exert downward pressure on rebar prices next week,” an industry analyst said.

7/8/2025

INDEXES 07 July

(Changes from the previous figure are indicated in brackets):
BALTIC DRY INDEX = 1436 (unchanged)
Shipping and freight cost index. Despite its name, it collects data from the world's major routes and not only those of the Baltic Sea.

CRB COMMODITY INDEX = 367.96 (declining)
The Commodity Research Bureau has been published since 1958 and is an index on commodities

LME INDEX = 4196.70 (falling)
London Metal Exchange index of non-ferrous metals, world reference.
Currently, the London Metal Exchange Index consists of 6 metals with the following weights: Aluminium (42.8%), Copper (31.2%), Zinc (14.8%), Lead (8.2%), Nickel (2%) and Tin (1%). The weights of the six metals are derived from the global production volume and the trade liquidity averaged over the previous five-year period.