LONDON Copper prices rebounded on Wednesday on a weaker dollar and calls to boost consumption at a meeting of China’s top decision-making body as the manufacturing sector continued to slow down. The most traded three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was near a one-week high of $9,169.5 per metric ton. It last traded 2% higher at $9,150 during official rings.
The rebound in copper prices was fuelled by a softer US dollar. The greenback weakened significantly after US private payroll growth in July missed expectations.
A weaker dollar makes greenback-priced metals cheaper for holders of foreign currencies. Other drivers included rising expectations for more stimulus in China after official factory data in the top metals consumer slipped to a five-month low in July, said Ewa Manthey, a commodities analyst at ING.
Beijing’s Politburo signalled on Tuesday a sense of urgency to revive the $17 trillion economy, calling for policies that would increase wages and boost domestic consumption. Manthey also cited dip-buying in the physical market after copper prices fell 18% from an all-time high in May. On a monthly basis, copper was down almost 5%. In other metals, aluminium prices gained 3.2% to $2,295, after slipping to a five-month low in the previous session.
The discount or contango for the cash against the three-month contract reached $66.53 a ton, the biggest since 1998. Contango, a condition where forward prices on LME are higher than near-term prices, typically signals good immediate supply of the metal. In warehouses monitored by LME in Port Klang, 539,475 tonnes of aluminum were earmarked for delivery.
LME aluminium and lead were still heading for their biggest monthly losses since June 2022, as investors’ interest in metals faded following rallies in the second quarter. Nickel jumped 2.7% to $16,500, zinc advanced 2.1% to $2,685, lead increased 1.2% to $2,059 and tin climbed 4.2% to $30,000.
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