20 September 2024 – Base metals on the SHFE commodity exchange showed themselves to be friendly on Friday with rising prices. And European natural gas storage facilities are already 93% full on average and prices, despite some volatility, are now well below the prices from September 2021.
Asian base metals end the week on a favourable note
Base metals on the Asian commodity exchange SHFE showed positive signals on Friday. With a gain of 2.2%, tin is currently recording the strongest growth, followed by copper (approx. +1.3%), lead (+1.2%), zinc (+0.9%), nickel (+0.7%) and aluminium (+0.6%).
On the European LME, nickel rose by just under 1.0% at the start of trading and is currently trading at around USD 16,500/MT. The London Metal Exchange Index (LMEX – index of all six base metals) closed on Thursday with a gain of around 0.98%.
European natural gas storage facilities well filled
Natural gas prices on the Dutch futures exchange TTF have recently fluctuated noticeably. At the beginning of the week, prices for natural gas for delivery in the following month fell by around six per cent within two trading days, after maintenance work on natural gas pipelines in Norway had so far – in contrast to the previous year – proceeded without any unexpected problems.
German natural gas tanks 96% full in September
Natural gas storage facilities in Germany are currently 96 per cent full, compared to an average of 93 per cent in Western Europe. By the end of the heating period at the end of March 2025, storage facilities in Western Europe should still be 40 per cent full, provided that temperatures in the winter half-year remain at the average of the past ten years. In the event of an unusually cold winter, the filling levels could fall to 35 per cent, but this is unlikely to trigger a sharp jump in prices.
While natural gas prices on the TTF were still at EUR 97.8/MWh in September 2021, they will average just EUR 33.1/MWh in September 2024, almost 67% below the pre-war level.
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