Base metals on the London Metal Exchange ended lower at the close of trading on Friday June 8, despite broad gains in copper, nickel and lead prices week on week.
Bucking the trend, zinc was the only metal to trade in positive territory at the close of the afternoon kerb session, climbing 0.6% to close above $3,200 per tonne for the first time since April 24. Copper's three-month price was the biggest mover of the week however, climbing 7% since the beginning of June and rallying to levels unseen since 2013.Concerns over unresolved talks at BHP Billiton's Escondida mine in Chile continue to cloud market sentiment, shifting prices higher on fears that mine output, which contributes to approximately 5% of global copper supply, could be affected. The closure of Vedanta's Sterlite Copper Tuticorin mine in India is also contributing to a...