LONDON: Copper prices in London fell on Thursday, under pressure from a weak global economic growth outlook and tepid demand in top consumer China.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) traded 0.6% down at $8,271 a metric ton by 1608 GMT.
The metal used in power and construction had started 2023 buoyed by hopes of a strong post-COVID rebound by China, but its recovery has since proved less commodities-intensive than expected.
“While market participants expect China to deliver some (economic) stimulus, we think that China is unlikely to take action on the massive scale seen in 2008, mainly because of debt concerns,” said Amelia Xiao Fu, head of commodity market strategy at Bank of China International.
BofA Global Research cut its 2023 price forecast for copper by 6.8% to $8,788, along with downward revisions for other base metals, citing a slow normalisation of activity in China, tighter monetary policy, and a global manufacturing recession.
However, copper is expected to be better supported than other base metals in the second half of the year thanks to its role in the green energy transition.
Among other metals, LME aluminium fell 0.4% to $2,133 a metric ton, nickel was flat at $21,210, zinc gained 0.7% to $2,373 and lead lost 0.5% to $2,056.
Tin jumped 3.3% to $28,550, having touched a five-month high of $29,110. Nervousness about a lack of tin supplies on the LME spurred a buying spree, despite an oversupplied physical market, traders said.
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