China’s Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. is in discussions with several potential partners about investing in steel projects, with the primary focus on Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

The nation’s top steel producer, known as Baosteel, is “actively considering” overseas investment targets, according to a statement on Friday posted on Wechat. The remarks were made at the company’s briefing for its first-half results, which was attended by executives including Chairman Zou Jixin.

Copper climbed toward its key threshold of $10,000 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, after advancing last month on a weaker dollar and relatively resilient demand.

The wiring metal gained 3% in August, and rose as much as 0.3% to $9,928 a ton on Monday. A softer dollar tends to benefit commodities priced in the greenback by making them cheaper for non-US buyers.

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou struck a combative tone in his effort to gain support for a Sept. 8 confidence vote, while acknowledging that talks with political parties may fail to save his government from being ousted.

“Compromise is a beautiful thing, but I’m not sure it’s possible,” Bayrou said in an interview with French news channels on Sunday evening. That followed comments by several opposition leaders over the weekend that appeared to sweep aside any chance of their support.