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

The latest Chinese investment in a US steelmaker has been widely criticised by the domestic industry.

The rebounds in the base metals have paused in recent days; we wait to see if the better-than-expected Chinese official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) acts as a boost as we approach September and the end of the summer slowdown.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part weaker this morning, Tuesday October 10, with prices down by an average of 0.3%. The exception is copper where three-month prices are up by 0.4% at $6,693 per tonne. The rest are off between 0.1% for tin prices and 0.8% for nickel prices. Volume has been average with 9,001 lots as of 07:11BST.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part consolidating this morning, Wednesday March 14, although copper and lead prices are showing gains of 0.5% and 0.3% respectively, with the former at $6,984 per tonne.

Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part consolidating after recent weakness, the exceptions are aluminium prices that are up by 0.7% at $2,147 per tonne and lead prices that are down by 0.5% at $2,490 per tonne. The rest are little changed, with copper prices recently quoted at $6,943 per tonne.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange started the European trading day slightly weaker this morning, Thursday December 14, with losses in copper (-0.3% at $6,721 per tonne), lead (-0.3%), zinc (-0.2%) and tin (-0.1%), while aluminium is up by 0.1% and nickel prices are unchanged. They have since started to rally, helped by stronger data.

Base metals traded on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part weaker this morning, Thursday November 23, with prices down by an average of 0.4%. Lead (-1.2%) and nickel (-1.1%) lead on the downside, while the rest are between unchanged and down by 0.2%. Three-month copper prices are off by 0.2% at $6,922 per tonne.

The global steel billet markets remained basically stable in the week from Monday August 20 to Friday August 24, with prices in Southeast Asia and the CIS region continuing to soften on the fallout from the weakening of the Turkish lira.

Base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange are for the most part firmer this morning, Friday December 1.