Metals prices mixed on week

Copper prices increased by 2.6 percent on Friday as talks in the Escondida mine strike in Chile broke down and BHP Billion, which controls the mine, shut down operations there. The closure resulted in the loss of 26,000 tonnes of copper production per day. Despite Friday’s jump in prices, copper was 1.2 percent lower over the week to close at $7,480 per tonne.

Three-month nickel prices were 4.8 percent higher during the week to $27,900 and the London Metal Exchange took action to settle the market down by imposing a limit of $300 on the spread between cash and futures prices on the metal after the difference between the three-month price and cash price on Wednesday reached over $6,000. LME inventories available for delivery have fallen to only 862 tonnes, less than a day’s global consumption of nickel.

In other base metals, zinc was up by 3.7 percent during the week to $3,262 per tonne on the news that India’s annual consumption of zinc is expected to go up by 10 percent this year. Meanwhile, aluminium dropped 1.9 percent to $2,472 per tonne.

Gold prices dropped 3.3 percent during the week to $611.30 per troy ounce.