China’s imports of unwrought copper and copper products reached a 13-month high in December, rising 17.8% year-on-year to 559,000 metric tons, according to customs data released on Monday.

Copper production from Chile’s state-run miner Codelco, the world’s largest producer of the metal, jumped nearly 17% in November, helping to boost overall output of the metal in the mineral-rich nation by some 10%, data from copper commission Cochilco showed on Friday.

Iron ore futures edged up on Friday, aided by stimulus expansion from top consumer China, but ended the week lower on seasonally softening demand for the key steelmaking ingredient

Copper prices on COMEX soared to two-month highs on Thursday as the market attempted to discount the potential for hefty tariffs on US imports after US President-elect Donald Trump takes office later this month.

India is expected to sign a preliminary agreement with Mongolia soon in the area of geology and exploration, a senior Indian government official with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Korea Zinc chairman Yun B. Choi said on Thursday that it is in preliminary talks with some US entities to supply antimony, after China’s export ban to the US disrupted the market for the mineral used in semiconductors.

Chile’s copper export revenue jumped in December, despite lower prices for the metal, indicating that mines in the top-producing country extended a recovery from the lowest levels in two decades.

China’s Zijin Mining Group Co. aims to start producing lithium in the Democratic Republic of Congo early next year from one of the world’s largest deposits of the battery metal.

The Western Australian Government has opened applications for its $50 million Lithium Industry Loan Facility as it looks to support an ailing local lithium sector.

It’s fair to say that lithium had a tough 2024.