LONDON: Copper prices fell for a fifth session on Friday to the lowest level in three months on disquiet about a weak Chinese economy and the lack of stimulus announcements.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.3% at $9,355 a metric ton by 1030 GMT after touching its lowest since April 8 at $9,306.
LME copper is on track for a 5.5% weekly decline, the biggest weekly fall since August 2022.
A key political meeting this week in top metals consumer China failed to provide any detail on further stimulus measures despite weaker than expected economic growth data for the second quarter.
“I think the market is really down on China at the moment and the speculators are taking a bit of money out,” said Tom Price, head of commodities strategy at Panmure Liberum.
“The government is trying to guide it from being a materials-intensive story to a tertiary-style economy. It’s not a happy place and it’s inherently bearish for commodities.”
Copper falls on lack of impetus from China and switch to gold
He expects further losses in copper and forecasts an average price of $9,000 a ton in the fourth quarter.
The most traded August copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) closed 2.1% down at 76,580 yuan ($10,537.32) a ton, the lowest level since April 11.
However, as prices fell, some physical demand improved.
“There’s more buying from China recently, since most of them delayed their buying when the copper price was high,” said Matt Huang, head of research at BANDS Financial.
Other metals also hit multi-month lows.
LME aluminium touched its lowest since April 3 at $2,367 a ton and was down 0.5% at $2,373.50 while nickel slipped 0.4% to $16,360, its lowest in nearly five months.
Both nickel and aluminium were weighed down by rising output in top producing countries Indonesia and China.
LME lead eased 0.8% to $2,140, tin tumbled 3% to $30,690 and zinc dropped 0.8% to $2,787.50.
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