Week in Review: Copper prices; British Steel roadblock; U.S. auto sales

Before we head into the weekend, let’s take a look at the week that was and some of the metals storylines here on MetalMiner, including coverage of: copper prices and the coronavirus’ impact; European steel consumption; Jingye’s British Steel takeover bid; U.S. steel production; automotive sales and more.
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- Copper prices have been sliding, especially as the world continues to monitor China’s coronavirus outbreak.
- The European Steel Association said European apparent steel consumption fell 3.1% year over year in Q3 2019.
- U.S. construction spending dipped by 0.2% in December compared with spending the previous month.
- French objections pose another challenge to Jingye Group’s attempted takeover bid of the insolvent British Steel.
- U.S. steel production jumped 1.9% during the week ending Feb. 1.
- MetalMiner’s Stuart Burns surveyed the state of commodities markets.
- U.S. automotive sales were down across the board in 2019.
- The U.S. trade deficit ticked up in December compared with the previous month.
- India’s annual budget could provide good news for the country’s steel sector.
- The struggles of South Africa’s mining sector have had a ripple effect throughout the rest of the country’s economy.
- According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the value of U.S. non fuel mineral production rose by 3% in 2019 compared to 2018.
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