Glencore’s move to cut 400,000 tonnes of cathode production in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo has transformed the outlook for the copper market over the coming year, just as market participants start limbering up for annual contractual negotiations.

Charlotte Radford takes a look at just some of the metals market news covered by Metal Bulletin over the past five days.

Charlotte Radford takes a look back at just some of the metals market news stories covered by Metal Bulletin’s reporters over the past seven days.

The London Metal Exchange will introduce market-making programmes to enhance the liquidity of its new products and existing contracts, it said on Thursday August 20.

Metal Bulletin's Charlotte Radford takes a look at the some of the key news reported by Metal Bulletin over the past five days.

Glencore has cut its maximum industrial capex for 2015 to $6 billion, compared with the $6.5-6.8 billion announced in February.

Codelco's Ministro Hales copper mine has suffered “significant damage” from “acts of sabotage” by strikers who seized control of the plant earlier this week, the company said.

Low copper prices are causing problems for miners all over the globe, but for producers in Zambia, the latest drop in prices is just one concern among many.

In the first 50 years of its history, China’s State Reserve Bureau was able to fulfil its vital but mundane role of stockpiling critical raw materials such as copper discreetly and without attracting much attention outside of the markets it bought from.

Some major Chinese smelters are considering reducing their deliveries into the domestic market due to the copper price slump, market sources have said.