London copper fell further on Thursday to trade below the $9,000 per-metric-ton level for the first time in more than two months, as the dollar firmed and investors weighed prospects of demand from top consumer China.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 1.3% to $8,934 per metric ton by 0535 GMT, hitting its lowest since Sept. 5.
The most-traded December copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) declined 2.1% to 73,160 yuan ($10,103.16) a ton, hitting its lowest since Sept. 12.
The dollar scaled a one-year high, steered by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
A stronger greenback makes dollar-priced metals more expensive for other currency holders.
Trump has vowed to adopt blanket 60% tariffs on US imports of Chinese goods as part of a package of “America First” trade measures.
The main issue is US tariffs on China, which impact copper demand through two channels - by weakening Chinese economic activity and likely causing yuan depreciation, said Kyle Rodda, a senior financial markets analyst at Capital.com.
Investors have also been disappointed by the scale of China’s recent stimulus measures to reboot its lacklustre economy. China’s property market is one of the largest consumers of base metals.
“We see copper prices trading lower to $8,500-$9,000 per ton into year-end,” analysts at Citi said in a note.
“We think elevated net investor positioning length in copper and other base metals is vulnerable to a further unwind by the year-end in reaction to heightened uncertainty around metal demand prospects next year.”
LME aluminium fell 0.8% to $2,511 a ton, nickel added 0.4% to $15,790, zinc decreased 2% to $2,922, lead lost 0.7% to $1,994 and tin fell 2.2% to $29,000.
SHFE aluminium dipped 1.1% to 20,585 yuan a ton, nickel declined 0.8% to 125,140 yuan, lead dropped 1.2% to 16,960 yuan, zinc slipped 0.7% to 24,525 yuan, while tin slumped 3.5% to 240,830 yuan.
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