BIR World Mirror on Non-Ferrous Metals - Issue March 2016*

Excellent Programme in place for Berlin

I must begin by expressing my sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the Brussels terrorist attack.

Most of the commodity markets have bounced back up during the past two weeks, so is the world economy really doing better? When Beijing staged the People’s Congress, the whole world was watching to see what the Chinese government might do to boost its economy. In the USA, the decision by the Federal Reserve not to raise interest rates served to weaken the dollar. Together with India’s announcement of its annual budget, we shall soon see in which direction the tide is turning.

After more than a month of diligent effort by our dedicated working group on the programme for the plenary meeting of the Non-Ferrous Metals Division in Berlin, we have confirmed three excellent speakers: Holger Ellmann of Argentum Metal Management; Eugen Weinberg of Commerzbank; and Christian Schirmeister of the LME.

The scheduling of the meeting is not perfect at 4pm on the Tuesday, May 31. Usually most of our non-ferrous members have left by that time so I urge you all to stay longer this time to hear speaker presentations on copper, aluminium and the world economy. After their speeches, we will present a panel discussion in a question-and-answer format. I am sure these will be excellent and very interesting presentations as our industry is greatly focused on these topics.

I would like to express my appreciation here to the Berlin working group members led by Peter Dahmen and including Alexandra Weibel-Natan, Jurgen van Gorp and Murat Bayram.

*This issue is published in black and white following the terror attacks in Brussels.

by David Chiao
Uni-All Group Ltd (USA)
President of the Non-Ferrous Metals Division
23rd March 2016

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