Most base metals fell on Tuesday, with copper prices in London falling to their lowest levels in nearly two weeks, on a weaker Chinese yuan.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 0.4% to $8,834 per metric ton by 0448 GMT. The contract dropped as much as 0.7% earlier in the session to $8,810, the lowest since March 13.
The most-traded May copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) declined 0.8% to 71,890 yuan ($9,960.8) a ton. It hit as low as 71,720 yuan earlier in the session, the lowest since March 15.
The China’s yuan eased against the dollar due to expectations that easier monetary policy at home and a strengthening dollar will lead to more weakness in the Chinese currency.
China is the world’s biggest metals consumer and imports many metals, so a weakness in the yuan softens Chinese purchasing power for greenback-priced commodities.
Copper retreats on firm dollar
Copper was also pressured by rising inventories in the warehouses approved by the LME, which were last at 117,900 tons, the highest since Feb. 29.
The discount of LME cash copper to the three-month contract expanded to $115.37 a ton on Monday, the biggest discount since at least 1982, data on LSEG Eikon showed, indicating abundant near-term supply.
LME aluminium eased 0.3% to $2,318 a ton, nickel edged down 0.5% at $16,860, zinc lost 0.4% to $2,485.50, lead fell 0.2% to $2,030, and tin declined 0.4% to $27,475.
SHFE nickel shed 2.1% to 131,760 yuan a ton, zinc fell 0.4% to 21,120 yuan, lead eased 0.4% to 16,175 yuan, tin dropped 2% to 222,440 yuan while aluminium rose 0.3% to 19,535 yuan.
LME tin inventories dropped to 4,865 tons, the lowest since July 2023. For the top stories in metals and other news, click or
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