London copper rebounds as dollar pauses in bullish run

London copper prices, on Tuesday, rebounded from a four-week low hit in the previous session, as the dollar weakened, making greenback-priced metals cheaper to holders of other currencies.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.7% to $8,931 a tonne by 0611 GMT, reversing after four straight sessions of losses.

The dollar eased from its rally in the previous session but hovered near a one-month peak as traders raised their forecasts for US Federal Reserve interest rate levels needed to tame inflation.

Meanwhile, First Quantum Minerals Ltd has suspended loading operations at a major port in Panama, blocking its path to export from the Cobre Panama copper mine.

“A prolonged disruption to shipping activity could impact mining operations due to limited storage capacity,” said ING analysts in a report.

The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.6% to 68,110 yuan a tonne, tracking overnight loss in London.

Copper prices have been falling in recent weeks as traders and investors reassessed their expectations of the speed and scale of any demand recovery in China after the country removed its strict COVID-19 restrictions.

On the supply side, global copper smelting activity in January rose to the highest levels in a year as plants in top refined metal producer China boosted output, data from satellite surveillance of metal processing plants showed on Monday.

LME aluminium increased 0.8% to $2,553 a tonne, zinc advanced 0.9% to $3,157.50 a tonne, lead rose 0.7% to $2,115.50 a tonne, while tin fell 0.2% to $26,920 a tonne.

Demand angst, higher dollar push copper to 4-week low

SHFE nickel fell 1.9% to 210,840 yuan a tonne, zinc dropped 0.6% to 23,430 yuan a tonne, lead decreased 0.4% to 15,210 yuan a tonne, tin shed 2.2% to 216,330 yuan a tonne, while aluminium rose 0.7% to 19,080 yuan a tonne.

The United States is considering raising the tariff on Russian-made aluminium to 200%, a US official said on Monday. “If the United States goes ahead and imposes the tariff on Russian aluminium, it will likely have a limited impact on the global market,” said ING analysts, adding that US aluminium imports from Russia are less than 10% of total imports.