Physical iron ore prices continued to rise on Tuesday April 2, closing in on $90 per tonne with yet more seaborne supply disruptions reported.

Metal Bulletin looks back over the key market news following one of the biggest weeks in the metal industry calendar - London Metals Week.

Metal Bulletin’s Charlotte Radford reviews some of the key news from the past seven days.

The longer I spend looking at commodity markets, the more I wonder how many people actually understand what makes them behave as they do (and for the avoidance of doubt, I include myself in that non-comprehending majority).

Bauxite exports from Brazil’s Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN) have significantly shifted to China since 2014, amid a strong demand from the Asian country and lower alumina refinery capacity in the USA.

Charlotte Radford takes a look at just some of the news stories and price moves covered by Metal Bulletin reporters over the past five days.

Copper prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) tracked those on the London Metal Exchange (LME) lower during Asian morning trading on Thursday May 24 as the US dollar continued to strengthen, while lead saw its rally continue apace.

Physical iron ore prices improved on Tuesday March 12 following advances in China’s futures and steel markets, as well as further uncertainty over Vale’s supplies from Brazil.

We believe that the copper concentrate market has reached a turning point from a decade of structural undersupply to a new era characterised by more plentiful availability.

Long-expected mine stoppages have finally come to the US coking coal industry, as tumbling prices for the steelmaking raw material drive the balance sheets of many mines into loss.