BEIJING: Copper prices steadied on Wednesday, with supports from ore supply shortages and a soft US dollar, while demand concerns in top consumer China capped upside.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange climbed 0.5% to $9,720 per metric ton by 0458 GMT, while the most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was 0.3% higher at 78,780 yuan ($10,857.37) a ton.
Anglo American’s said on Tuesday copper output at its Los Bronces mine in Chile is expected to fall nearly a third from average historical levels next year as the miner pauses a processing plant for maintenance.
Shortages of mined copper have been a reason for a price rally this year.
The record high prices have dampened copper consumption in China.
And, this week’s disappointing economic data has added to the demand concerns.
A fall in China’s spot demand triggered rare large-scale exports, pushing LME stockpiles higher, ANZ analysts said in a note. Copper stocks in LME warehouses rose to the highest since January on Monday.
Copper nears eight-week low on Chinese factory data
Major copper smelters planned to export up to 80,000 tons of copper in June.
However, the actual volume could fall below expectations given the recently lowered export profits, according to the Shanghai Metals Market.
The dollar steadied on Wednesday, nursing losses after soft US retail sales data reinforced bets of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts.
A softer dollar makes it cheaper to buy the greenback-priced commodity.
LME aluminium climbed 0.3% to $2,493.50 a ton, zinc advanced 1.1% to $2,868 and lead rose 2.1% to $2,237.50, tin nudged 0.1% higher to $32,165, while nickel lost 0.3% to $17,245 a ton.
SHFE aluminium increased 0.6% to 20,515 yuan a ton, zinc gained 1.4% to 23,790 yuan, and tin little moved at 267,180 yuan, lead was up 2.9% at 19,445 yuan, nickel declined 1.3% to 133,920 yuan.
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