After another busy week in the Metal Bulletin offices, we take a look back at some of the big stories.

Base metals Chinese cathode exports are largely responsible for this week’s surge in LME copper inventories, with a trading party using a series of smelter offtake agreements and long-term contracts to deliver material onto the exchange, sources with knowledge of the matter told Metal Bulletin. The dismissal of Regina Lopez from her role as chief of the Philippines’ Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Wednesday May 3 removed an uncertainty but also a prop for nickel prices. And nickel prices were under pressure as a result of the developments in the Philippines, and the increasing likelihood of a surge in laterite ore exports from the country. Viant Commodities, a Singapore-based metals trading firm set up in 2016, meanwhile, reported…