Sample Answer

The line chart gives information about the change in monthly prices for copper, nickel and zinc over the course of 2014. Overall, there were declines for the prices of copper and especially nickel, and a moderate rise for zinc. By the end of the period, the changes had become less extreme and nickel clearly experienced the greatest month-to-month volatility. 

In January of 2014, the percentage change for nickel based on the previous month was 6%, by far higher than copper (2%) and zinc (1%). This trend reversed for nickel with the percentage changes dropping to 1% by March and a low of -3% by June. The divergences for the other minerals were more moderate with a high of a 3% change for zinc in February before a declining trend over the remainder of the first half of the year. Copper prices similarly fell but were grouped slightly lower around 1% to -1%. 

In the second half of the year, nickel production declined (-1% over most months) before a sharp rise to finish the year with 1% increases. Copper, in contrast, hovered near 1% from July onwards with a slight uptick in December. Zinc was marginally lower with .5% drops for the majority of the latter part of the year, prior to a surge to finish with a 2% rise in December, the highest ending point among all mineral prices.