LONDON: Copper prices fell to more than a two-week low on Monday as the market focused on lacklustre demand in top consumer China, while a softer dollar helped to cap losses.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was trading 0.6% lower at $8,739 a tonne by 1554 GMT, having earlier touched $8,726.5, its lowest level since April 5.
Hopes for stronger copper demand in China after the removal of COVID restrictions have proved forlorn so far, with activity in the manufacturing sector growing more slowly than expected. “China reopening euphoria has faded. This is not a surprise as we thought from the beginning that this recovery would be services-driven,” Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke said, adding that an inventory overhang of manufactured goods was also weighing on demand.
Weak demand in China can be seen in the Yangshan copper premium, which has more than halved to $23 a tonne since March 17.
Elsewhere, traders are watching the large holdings of warrants and cash contracts for LME lead, which has fuelled worries about near-term supplies and created a hefty premium for cash metal over the three-month contract.
The premium hit $35.25 a tonne on Friday, its highest since early January. It was last at $31.75 a tonne.
Three-month lead was down 0.8% at $2,143.5.
In the aluminium market, the focus was on the recent cancellation of warrants to take delivery of 10,200 tonnes from LME-registered warehouses in Gwangyang, where there has been a build-up of Russian metal.
“We believe it is genuine demand,” Marex said in a note. “Some of our Far East client base has been looking for warrants of late.” In other metals, LME zinc fell 1.6% to $2,675 a tonne after hitting $2,664, its lowest price since Nov. 3. Aluminium slipped 0.6% to $2,382.5 after hitting a one-week low, and nickel was down 0.2% at $24,425 after touching its weakest level since April 14. Tin was up 0.1% at $26,625.
Industrial metals found some support from the dollar, which has fallen on perceptions that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates less aggressively than previously expected.
A weaker US currency makes dollar-priced metals cheaper for buyers holding other currencies.
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