Copper on course for biggest monthly fall in over 4 years

• London copper has lost some 10pc since the virus started making headlines last week.
• Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME)  rose 0.3pc to $5,601 a tonne by 0758 GMT after 12 straight sessions of losses.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the virus outbreak a global health emergency.

London copper prices rose on Friday, but were on track for the biggest monthly fall since November 2015 as the coronavirus raised fears of lower demand from top metals consumer China.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME)  rose 0.3pc to $5,601 a tonne by 0758 GMT after 12 straight sessions of losses. For the month, it is down 9.3pc.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared the virus outbreak a global health emergency, with the death toll in China touching 213 on Friday and the number of confirmed cases rising to 9,692.

London copper has lost some 10pc since the virus started making headlines last week.

"While we believe that the 2019-nCoV will likely be better managed by the Chinese authorities and is likely to prove less of a public health threat, we still see downside risks to the economy from the epidemic," Fitch Solutions said in a note.

Growth in China's factory activity faltered in January as export orders fell, with the purchasing managers' index falling to 50.0 in January from 50.2 in December.

FUNDAMENTALS

CHINA SERVICES PMI: Growth in China's services sector activity quickened in January, with the official services PMI rising to 54.1 from 53.5 in December.

MMG/PERU: Transportation of metal from MMG Ltd's Las Bambas copper mine in Southern Peru has been halted since Monday, as local communities protested against pollution.

FORCE MAJEURE: A Chinese international trade promotion agency said it would offer force majeure certificates to companies struggling to cope with the impact of the new coronavirus epidemic on their business with overseas partners.

TIN: China's refined tin imports in December were 899 tonnes, customs data showed, more than double from the previous month and almost seven times the level a year ago.

NICKEL: China's imports of nickel ore from Indonesia leaped by nearly three-quarters in 2019 to 23.9 million tonnes as traders scrambled to ship the material before an export ban from the Southeast Asian nation took effect from this year.

OTHER PRICES: LME aluminium fell 0.2pc to $1,7280 a tonne, nickel advanced 0.4pc to $12,675 a tonne, zinc  increased 0.2pc to $2,192.50 a tonne, lead jumped 1.2pc to $1,847 a tonne and tin edged up 0.7pc to $16,130 a tonne.