The BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) share price is starting August with a bang.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) mining giant are up 1.0% in late morning trade on Thursday, changing hands for $42.73 apiece.
The miner is enjoying a 2.5% overnight boost in the iron ore price, which lifted back above US$100 per tonne to trade for US$101.55 per tonne.
And the copper price is up 2.8% to US$9,225.00 per tonne. The industrial metals and the BHP share price are starting the new month with some tailwinds blowing out of the United States amid growing hopes of a September Federal Reserve interest rate cut.
That's the market action on 1 August.
Now, did you catch what happened to the BHP share price in July?
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What's been moving the BHP share price?
July started out well for shareholders in the ASX 200 mining giant, with shares closing on 28 June at $42.69 and gaining 4.9% by market close on 4 July, when shares ended the day at $44.77.
That came as both iron ore and copper, BHP's number one and number two revenue earners, defied bearish expectations and moved higher early in July.
But then those bearish expectations began to play out, with iron ore slipping below US$100 per tonne at the end of the month. The copper price declined roughly 7% over the month.
Much of that pressure came amid concerns over the sluggish recovery of China's struggling, commodity-hungry real estate markets.
This, in turn, saw the BHP share price close yesterday, 31 July, at $42.30, down 1.0% over the month. For some context, the ASX 200 gained 4.2% in July.
Nickel mine closures and quarterly updates
Turning to some company specifics, on 12 July, BHP announced the temporary suspension of operations at its Nickel West operations and West Musgrave project, which will commence in October.
The decision was driven by depressed nickel prices which the miner expects won't recover for some time yet due to oversupply issues. The BHP share price closed down 0.4% on the day.
With the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price surging 7.9% over the past month, July also saw BHP lose its position as the biggest company (by market cap) on the ASX. CBA reclaimed that top spot on 12 July.
On 17 July, ASX 200 investors had the opportunity to review BHP's quarterly report for the three months to 30 June.
The miner reported a 13% quarter-on-quarter increase in iron ore production to 69 million tonnes. For the full FY 2024 year, iron ore production was up 1% year on year to a record 260 million tonnes.
And the BHP's copper production improved as well, with 505,000 tonnes produced over the quarter, up 8% from the prior three months.
Despite those strong results, the BHP share price closed down 0.9% on the day.
