Copper slips on worries about China’s economy, Taiwan tension

LONDON: Copper prices coasted lower on Thursday on persistent concern about lacklustre demand in top metals consumer China, aggressive rate hikes by central banks and tension surrounding Taiwan.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange declined 0.1% to $7,670 a tonne by 1000 GMT, on track for the fourth straight session of losses.

LME copper has lost 30% since hitting a record high of $10,845 a tonne in March, but managed to bounce from 20-month lows touched on July 15.

“We’ve had a relief rally, a bear market bounce, but now base metals prices have resumed their downward trend and I think they will continue to track lower,” said Tom Price, head of commodities strategy at Liberum.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for September, fell 2.2% to 58,750 yuan ($8,698.68) a tonne.

In China, continued COVID-19 lockdowns amid weak manufacturing data this week deflated hopes that stimulus and infrastructure spending would significantly revive the world’s second biggest economy.

Bullish investors lift copper despite weak factory data

“China has given up on its 5.5% GDP growth target and that tells me that any sort of stimulus before the end of the year is just going to support activity, rather than drive it to higher levels,” Price said.

Also unsettling investors was the firing of missiles by China around Taiwan a day after a visit by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the self-ruled island that Beijing regards as its sovereign territory.

An expected half percentage point rate hike later on Thursday by the Bank of England, the biggest since 1995, will remind investors of a continued aggressive drive by central banks to bring down inflation that could also tip the global economy into a recession, analysts said.

“We recommend accumulating a bearish position in copper and nickel at any strength over the coming weeks owing to a likely European downturn over the next 6-9 months,” Citi analysts said in a note.

Joining copper on the downside, LME lead slipped 0.8% to $2,009 and tin shed 0.6% to $24,100.

But aluminium rose 0.5% to $2,390 a tonne, zinc advanced 1.9% to $3,340 and nickel added 0.2% to $22,370.