(Bloomberg) -- After three weeks of intense volatility, metal markets seem to be calming down.
Aluminum steadied after a four-day selloff, which was driven the U.S. decision to rein in harsh sanctions against United Co. Rusal. Nickel advanced 1.4 percent as the Philippines moved forward with a plan to limit the area of land miners are permitted to exploit. Most other metals were little changed.
“Prices should revert to some extent,” Wei Lai, an analyst with Cofco Futures Ltd., said in Shanghai. “The worst time for Rusal has passed.”
Aluminum’s breathtaking rally has been thrown into reverse after the U.S. switched tack, saying on Monday it would provide sanctions relief if Oleg Deripaska relinquishes control of Rusal (HK:0486) and extended the window for traders to stop dealings with the company.
Still, it’s unclear how much of Rusal’s trade will resume as the flow of aluminum and its raw materials depends on ports, shipping companies, banks and buyers all being comfortable in dealing with the Russian company.
UBS Group AG said the market is underestimating supply challenges. The bank forecast prices of $2,500 a ton in six months and $2,300 a ton in 12 months.
Aluminum was little changed at $2,231 a metric ton on Wednesday. Prices have given back roughly half the gains since sanctions were announced in early April.
In zinc, orders to withdraw the metal from warehouses tracked by the London Metal Exchange fell 12 percent to the lowest since 2012. Copper canceled warrants are also on the rise, notching the biggest four-day increase since 2010.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Winnie Zhu in Shanghai at wzhu4@bloomberg.net;Thomas Biesheuvel in London at tbiesheuvel@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jason Rogers at jrogers73@bloomberg.net, Lynn Thomasson, Nicholas Larkin
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