At the London Metal Exchange (LME), copper prices were little changed at $ 7,122 a tonne, after falling earlier. Copper futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped 0.1 percent to 53,070 yuan ($ 8,439.89) a tonne. Growth in China’s manufacturing sector in January remained high. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) in January of 1818 reached 51.5, the highest level in 4 months and exceeded the threshold of 50 points. Japan’s manufacturing rose at its fastest pace in nearly four years in January, with production growth and jobs backing a robust recovery in the world’s third-largest economy. Nickel prices fell 0.6 percent after rising 2 percent on Tuesday, trading in volatile trading for weeks, as traders cut reserves ahead of the Lunar New Year. Chilean copper output in 2017 fell from the previous year, declining production due to a prolonged strike at BHP’s Escondida copper mine. According to the Mexican Iron and Steel Industry Commission (Canacero), crude steel production in 2017 is about 20 million tons, up 6.2% over the previous year. Canacero said the main reason was that output of semi-finished steel was up 32%, output of finished products increased only 0.1% from the previous year. By 2017, the annual production capacity of the Mexican steel industry will reach 29.5 million tonnes and the utilization rate will be 68 percent and the total output will be 20.06 million tonnes. However, steel consumption in 2017 reached 29.7 million tons, up 4.4% over the previous year. Asian stocks edged higher on Thursday (1/2), after falling sharply earlier this week. Source: VITIC / Reuters