BEIJING: London copper fell for a third session in four on Monday as the dollar index ticked higher, making metals more expensive for holders of other currencies, and after China's move to place retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion of US goods.
China's finance ministry on Friday unveiled tariffs on 5,207 goods imported from the United States, with the extra levies ranging from 5 percent to 25 percent. Items earmarked for the 25 percent tariff include ore and concentrates of copper, zinc and nickel.
The impact on copper would not be material because China's imports of copper concentrate from the United States made up only 3 percent of its total, said Helen Lau, an analyst at Argonaut Securities in Hong Kong.
China in 2017 imported 432,944 tonnes of copper concentrate from the United States, its eight-biggest supplier, according to Chinese customs data.
"The reduced copper imports from the United States can be replaced by imports from other countries and the United States can redirect to other countries," Lau said.
FUNDAMENTALS
LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 1.1 percent at $6,138 a tonne, as of 0701 GMT, amid fears the Sino-US trade spat will hurt demand for industrial metals.
SHFE COPPER The most-traded September copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed 0.2 percent higher at 49,300 yuan ($7,206.02) a tonne.
OTHER METALS: LME zinc fared worst in the base metals complex, falling 2.2 percent to $2,570.50 a tonne, while Shanghai lead ended down 1.4 percent.
RUSAL: Russian aluminium giant Rusal posted a second-quarter profit of $440 million on Monday, remaining well in the black despite sanctions imposed on the company earlier this year by Washington.
RMB: China's central bank said it would require banks to keep reserves equivalent to 20 percent of their clients' foreign exchange forwards positions from Monday, in a move to stabilise the yuan currency.
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