Nonferrous

• ‘We paid a fair market price’ for LME: Lamba Dec 06, 2012

  Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. (HKEx) paid the market rate for the London Metal Exchange and expects to more than recoup it in the next few years, Romnesh Lamba, head of market development, told AMM.

• Mark Smith joins Houlihan Lokey Dec 06, 2012

  Mark Smith has joined Los Angeles-based investment bank Houlihan Lokey Inc. as a director in its industrials group, where he will focus on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the metals and mining sector.

• HKEx in ‘coopetition’ with Asian giant, but isn’t its puppet: exec Dec 06, 2012

  Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. (HKEx) both coexists and competes with China, a situation that won’t change as China opens up its capital account and links between the two countries deepen, a senior HKEx executive said.

• HKEx won’t be warehousing walkover Dec 06, 2012

  Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. will get tough with warehousing companies that it finds to be acting against the rules of the London Metal Exchange, or even outside of the spirit of the rules, its chief executive officer said.

• HKEx completes acquisition of LME Dec 06, 2012

  Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd.’s (HKEx’s) acquisition of the London Metal Exchange has been completed, HKEx and LME parent LME Holdings Ltd. announced Thursday.

• Freeport’s Bayway copper plant back online Dec 05, 2012

  Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.’s Bayway operations in Elizabeth, N.J., have resumed partial production following Hurricane Sandy, a company spokesman told AMM.

• Freeport to buy oil, gas producers for $9B Dec 05, 2012

  Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. has agreed to acquire Plains Exploration & Production Co. and McMoRan Exploration Co. in a $9-billion move that executives say will further long-term growth by diversifying assets.

• Billet market continues to await ABI deal Dec 05, 2012

  North American aluminum billet producers and consumers say that the spot market is effectively "dead" as the industry continues to move into year-end inventory control and awaits the outcome of labor contract discussions at Alcoa Inc.’s Aluminerie de Bécancour (ABI) smelter in Quebec.

• Alcoa will curtail Ind. extrusion plant in 2013 Dec 05, 2012

  Alcoa Inc. has decided to curtail its Auburn, Ind., plant next year due to weak market conditions, a company spokeswoman told AMM.

• Evidence mounts in Asarco copper heist Dec 05, 2012

  The Arizona Department of Public Safety has discovered evidence that will likely result in arrests in the case of a copper heist at producer Asarco LLC, a department spokesman told AMM Tuesday.

• Nickel premiums up as stainless foundries buy Dec 05, 2012

  Melting-grade nickel premiums have strengthened this week, with spot deals reported at higher levels.

• SMC key in growing Timet’s role in Precision Castparts Dec 05, 2012

  Precision Castparts Corp. will use its existing specialty alloys operations to extend the downstream product role of Titanium Metals Corp. under Timet’s future ownership by PCC.

• VSMPO ferrotitanium buyers test for asbestos themselves Dec 05, 2012

  Ferrotitanium market participants are carrying out their own tests for asbestos in material produced by VSMPO-Avisma Corp. and distributed by Noble Resources Corp. now that VSMPO has told customers which containers could possibly be contaminated.

• Friedland touts strength of Ivanplats’ DRC copper mine Dec 05, 2012

  Ivanplats Ltd. chief executive officer Robert Friedland is touting the company’s Kamoa project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as potentially the largest copper mine in the world.

• Chinese ferrosilicon prices rise on higher demand Dec 05, 2012

  Chinese ferrosilicon tags increased further this week as sentiment was buoyed by higher prices from steel mills.

• Nalco sells aluminum ingots at $213-per-tonne premium Dec 05, 2012

  India’s National Aluminium Co. Ltd. (Nalco) has sold 12,000 tonnes of aluminum ingots at a premium of $213 per tonne over the average London Metal Exchange cash price on a c.i.f. basis, a company official told AMM sister publication Metal Bulletin on Wednesday.

• Newmont’s top exec set to retire Dec 05, 2012

  Newmont Mining Corp. chief executive officer Richard O’Brien plans to retire March 1.

• Revett forecasts lower copper output Dec 04, 2012

  Revett Minerals Inc. is lowering its production outlook for the fourth quarter of 2012 due to difficult operating conditions at its Troy Mine in northwestern Montana, the company announced Monday.

• Boleo construction to continue, Baja says Dec 04, 2012

  Baja Mining Corp.’s flagship Boleo Mine in Baja California Sur, Mexico, will receive a new package of loans from its South Korean financiers, allowing construction on the copper-cobalt-zinc-manganese mine to continue, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based company said Tuesday.

• Indonesian nickel ore key to 2013 pricing: Vale Dec 04, 2012

  The availability of nickel ore from Indonesia will be a key factor determining nickel prices next year, according to the top executive of Brazilian miner Vale SA.

• Tin premiums steady amid holiday slowdown Dec 04, 2012

  Delivered premiums for Grade A tin have held steady over the past two weeks despite a run-up in exchange prices as market sources reported limited activity in the second half of November.

• General Cable closes buy of Alcan Cable China Dec 04, 2012

  General Cable Corp. has completed its previously announced acquisition of Alcan Cable China, the wire manufacturer said Monday.

• Vale targeting 260,000T nickel output in ’13 Dec 03, 2012

  Brazilian miner Vale SA expects to produce 260,000 tonnes of nickel in 2013 as it plans to spend $3.78 billion on its base metals operations during the year.

• Copper, brass shipments rise in October Dec 03, 2012

  Copper and brass shipments rose 13.2 percent month on month in October but were flat year on year, according to the Copper and Brass Servicenter Association (CBSA).