Copper gains on China data but heading for weekly loss

LONDON: Copper rose on Friday as industrial data from top consumer China pointed to a steady economic recovery but prices for the metal were still heading for a weekly loss as supply concerns receded.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange, rose 1.3pc to $6,338.50 a tonne by 1136 GMT.

Prices have been range-bound since mid-July after touching a two-year high.

"There is a feeling that the strong recovery has run into resistance that the economic recovery in China is fully priced in," said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.

"At the same time the supply side issues have not materialised to the extent that some had feared."

China's July industrial output grew in line with June's growth but was below analysts' forecasts. However, the data still showed a continued economic recovery in China, the world's biggest copper consumer.

CODELCO: The copper price should hold at around $2.80 per pound through 2020, said Codelco Chief Executive Officer Octavio Araneda said.

Miners such as Codelco and Teck Resources have resumed operations after some coronavirus-induced shut downs in Chile, the world's top producer of the metal. Chile has managed to keep production cuts limited.

INVENTORIES: On-warrant copper stocks in LME approved warehouses are at 54,102 tonnes, hovering near their lowest since March 2019.

The lack of available metal on the LME market helped maintain a premium of $7.50 on the cash price compared to the three month contracts.

Meanwhile, inventories in warehouses registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchange have nearly doubled in the last two weeks to 172,051 tonnes. This compares to 380,085 tonnes of stocks in mid-March.

ALUMINIUM: China's July aluminium output hit a record high as the longest domestic prices rally in more than a decade prompted smelters to restart production and launch new capacity.

PRICES: Aluminium rose 0.3pc to $1,770, zinc edged up 0.1pc to $2,374, lead added 0.5pc to $1,953, tin added 0.5pc to $17,585 while nickel rose 1.7pc to $14,340.