Base metals prices are weaker again this morning, Monday May 8, with prices down an average of 0.9% on the London Metal Exchange.

Prices for steel billet in the major markets showed mixed dynamics during the working week to Friday September 21. Weak demand drove prices down in the Chinese export, Southeast Asian import and Turkish domestic and export markets.

US president-elect Donald Trump has vowed to kick-start funding of up to $1 trillion on infrastructure projects, and the steel and metals industry has been cheering. But analysts remain unconvinced.

It is the time of year, albeit slightly later than usual, when anyone who is anybody in the metals space hotfoots it to London for the annual shindig that is LME Dinner Week.

Latin America editor Ana Paula Camargo reviews the main steel market news covered by Metal Bulletin over the past week.

Three-month base metals prices on the London Metal Exchange were marginally higher during morning trading on Thursday June 28, with the complex up by an average of 0.2%.

Tight supply of manganese ore at Chinese ports kept prices of the raw material high last week, while silico-manganese futures prices plunged which could dampen prices in the near term, sources told Metal Bulletin.

Demand for flat steel will remain moderate in Turkey in February and price increases are unlikely because raw material prices are falling and end-user demand is unremarkable, market participants told Metal Bulletin.

Metal Bulletin reviews some of the key news and price moves from the past week in the global steel market.

Prices in the global billet market diverged in the week ended Friday November 2.