TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2020

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Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asian Business Sentiment Survey 2020Q2 and graduate business school INSEAD ask Asia-Pacific companies to rate their six-month business outlook, in a survey which in Q1 yielded a sentiment index of 53 at near 11-year-lows. The latest survey will be released at 0300 GMT on Wednesday.

TOP NEWS

LME plans switch to electronic exchange of metal warrants London Metal Exchange members and users will be able to electronically make and take delivery of metal and move away from a process that involves the physical exchange of title documents or warrants, under plans put forward by the exchange. The proposal was detailed in a discussion paper issued on Monday. The LME, which said electronic warranting would bring "significant operational efficiencies", is seeking responses by July 10.

GRAPHIC-Canadian exemption from U.S. aluminium import levy under scrutiny The aluminium market is pricing in rising prospects of the replacing 's exemption from import tariffs with quotas, aiming to boost the survival chances of local producers. Some U.S. aluminium industry sources expect the exemption to be lifted completely, which would slash Canadian imports and trigger a large price rise, anchoring the viability of high-cost U.S.

Kinross resolves Mauritania disputes and secures expansion Canadian firm Kinross Gold on Monday said it reached an agreement with Mauritania's government under which the company will pay a total of $25 million to resolve disputes over fuel use, tax exemptions, and mining licences. Under the deal, the government will give Kinross a 30-year exploitation licence for its new project Tasiast Sud. Mauritania will receive a 15% free carried interest in the project, with an option to purchase an additional 10% after further feasibility work is completed. Tokyo Steel to raise product prices for July by up to 7.3% Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co Ltd, Japan's top electric-arc furnace steelmaker, said on Tuesday it would raise its steel product prices by 3.5%-7.3% in July to reflect an upward trend in international markets on strong demand from China. The company kept prices unchanged for all of its steel products in June for a second consecutive month.

Rio Tinto won't bid for remaining stake in Canadian diamond mine -document Global miner PLC has no plans to take full control of its Canadian Arctic diamond mine, which faces closure and will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up, court documents show. Rio, which owns 60% of the Diavik mine in Canada's Northwest Territories, said in a May 28 court filing that it "does not seek to bid" for Dominion Diamond Mines ULC's 40% stake or its nearby Ekati mine as part of a court-supervised auction.

Japan crude steel annual output to fall below 80 mln T -steel federation head Japan's crude steel output is expected to come in around 35 million tonnes for the April-September period and below 80 million tonnes for the current financial year to end-March, the new head of a steel industry group said on Tuesday. "It's my personal view, but I still expect Japan's crude steel output is likely to fall below 80 million tonnes for the current financial year," Japan Iron and Steel Federation's new chairman, Eiji Hashimoto, told a news conference.

Tajik-Chinese antimony project delayed to October by COVID-19 A Chinese-Tajik antimony and joint venture has once again delayed its start-up because of the coronavirus pandemic and now plans to begin commercial production by October, Tajik state metals firm TALCO said on Monday. TALCO Gold, jointly owned by TALCO and China’s Tibet Huayu Mining Co, planned to start producing antimony, a metal used in batteries and fire retardants, from the Konchoch deposits in western Tajikistan in March.

MARKET NEWS

Gold rose after the U.S. Federal Reserve widened its program of buying corporate debt to combat the financial toll of the pandemic as worries grow about a second wave of coronavirus infections. Copper prices rose as the Federal Reserve's latest move to support a struggling U.S. economy hit by the COVID-19 pandemic boosted risk- on sentiment across markets. The dollar slipped and riskier currencies rallied as the U.S. Federal Reserve prepared to start its corporate bond buying scheme, while a report flagging the possibility of more fiscal stimulus helped underpin investor sentiment.

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(Inside Metals is compiled by Carl Bob Willis Bagh in Bengaluru) Refinitiv 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036 For questions or comments about this report, contact: [email protected] Please visit: Refinitiv for more information. To subscribe to Metals newsletter, click here. Privacy statement

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