Nonferrous

• LME nickel rises as metals end 2005 quietly Dec 30, 2005

  With activity winding down in preparation for the New Year holiday, metal prices showed little volatility during Friday's final kerb session on the London Metal Exchange.

• Chinese supplies dry up in wake of toxic spill Dec 30, 2005

  Chinese market participants have stopped offering indium for export due to uncertainties over when the Shaoguan smelter and other producers in Guangdong and Hunan provinces will resume production.

• No word yet on stockpile cobalt sales plans Dec 30, 2005

  The head of the U.S. Defense National Stockpile Center still has no word on whether he'll be able to resume cobalt sales to the public.

• Workers return to Codelco after one-day strike Dec 30, 2005

  Contract workers at Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco) returned to their jobs Friday after a one-day strike to protest the company's refusal to provide bonus pay.

• Indium market awaits impact of end-use boom Dec 30, 2005

  With some electronics retailers slashing prices on flat-screen televisions and demand booming, indium merchants are wondering where the market for the minor metal will go next.

• Aluminum alloy producers see '05 gains continuing into '06 Dec 30, 2005

  Prices for A380.1 aluminum alloy are entering 2006 on an upswing, with a number of market participants offering a rosy business outlook well into the first quarter.

• Global Alumina delays issuance of $50M convertible debenture Dec 30, 2005

  Global Alumina Corp. is delaying the issuance of a $50-million, 10-percent convertible debenture until Jan. 30 or as late in the first quarter as the Toronto Stock Exchange will allow.

• Umicore takes zinc hedge to 50% for 2007 Dec 30, 2005

  Belgian metals and chemicals group Umicore SA has hedged another quarter of its zinc price exposure for 2007, the company said last week. The move takes the company's total hedged position for 2007 to 50 percent at an average forward price of 1,360 euros ($1,608) per tonne.

• Zinifex tops list of S&P/ASX 100 gainers Dec 30, 2005

  Benefiting from record zinc prices and seemingly insatiable demand, Zinifex Ltd., Melbourne, Australia, has topped the list of gainers on the S&P/ASX 100 Index for 2005, surging 190 percent to Australian $6.88 ($5.04) from A$2.37 ($1.74) on the Australian Stock Exchange.

• Tongling settles copper TC/RCs with miners Dec 29, 2005

  China's second-largest copper producer, Tongling Nonferrous Metals (Group) Inc., has settled copper treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for 2006 at $93.50 per tonne/9.35 cents per pound with Noranda Inc. and Cía. Minera Doña Inés de Collahuasi.

• World copper balance shifts to deficit in September ICSG Dec 29, 2005

  The world refined copper balance shifted sharply into deficit in September, according to preliminary data from the International Copper Study Group (ICSG).

• Zinc players look for pricing clues in unsettled market Dec 29, 2005

  Zinc premiums were steady and alloys inched higher as the final days of 2005 ticked away, but a number of market participants see higher prices taking hold in the first quarter, stimulated by a range of bullish factors.

• World aluminum production rises 700,000 tonnes in first 11 months Dec 28, 2005

  Global aluminum production climbed 700,000 tonnes in the first 11 months of 2005 compared with the same period last year, according to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), London.

• Chilean copper output predicted to rise 2.6% to 5.5M tonnes in '06 Dec 28, 2005

  Chilean copper production is expected to increase by 2.6 percent to more than 5.51 million tonnes in 2006, according to Comision Chilena del Cobre (Cochilco), the Chilean state copper commission.

• Inco quits Greenland nickel project Dec 28, 2005

  Discouraged by the results of a drilling program, Inco Ltd. will cease working on Diamond Fields International Ltd.'s Ammassalik nickel project in eastern Greenland.

• Comex seats sell for record prices Dec 28, 2005

  A seat on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division has attracted a record price for the second time in two days.

• Glencore's top ferroalloys man said leaving Dec 28, 2005

  David Issroff, head of the ferroalloys division at Glencore International AG, is poised to leave his position with the Swiss trading company, market sources said.

• Zinc market focuses on 2006 TC negotiations Dec 28, 2005

  Negotiations on 2006 zinc treatment charges (TCs) might get a jump start if Teck Cominco Ltd. executives travel east just after the New Year, but could stretch all the way until the American Zinc Association annual conference in mid-February, according to one concentrate trader.

• Revere corrects copper surcharge Dec 28, 2005

  Revere Copper Products Inc. said Wednesday that it will decrease its copper surcharge to 3.6 cents a pound from 4.1 cents on all sheet, strip, bar, plate and extruded products produced at its facilities in Rome, N.Y., and New Bedford, Mass. The decrease reflects a reduction in the cost of copper cathode and scrap, the company said.

• Kaiser eyes end-January decision on surcharge vs. base price hike Dec 28, 2005

  Kaiser Aluminum Corp., Foothill Ranch, Calif., likely will decide by the end of January whether to impose an energy surcharge to recover high natural gas costs.

• Peru's gold production set to hit record high Dec 27, 2005

  Peru will produce more than 180 tonnes of gold in 2005 - a record high, according to Sociedad Nacional de Mineria, Petroleo y Energia (SNMPE), the country's society of mining, oil and energy.

• Boliden to increase copper output in Finland Dec 27, 2005

  New Boliden Ltd. plans to expand its Harjavalta copper smelter in Finland.

• AMM secondary aluminum pricing changes Dec 27, 2005

  Following an in-depth review, AMM has decided to take the following action with regard to the AMM Secondary Ingot Indicator

• Chinese alumina prices hovering near $600/T Dec 27, 2005

  Prices of imported alumina in China are steady in a range of $600 to $620 per tonne c.i.f., although some offers were reported slightly lower in quiet trading.