LONDON: Copper prices were steady on Monday as Chile allowed mining to resume at Codelco’s El Teniente mine and the market awaited more clues on the path of interest rates.
Benchmark three-month LME copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.1% at $9,756 a metric ton by 0934 GMT. The contract rose 1.4% last week.
Easing concerns on the supply side, Codelco said on Saturday that Chile’s state regulators had approved the reopening of those parts of the El Teniente mine not affected by the July 31 collapse that killed six workers.
On the consumption front, Chinese producer prices fell more than expected in July while consumer prices were unchanged, highlighting sluggish domestic demand.
There are hopes that demand from China, the world’s top metals consumer, would improve in September, usually a peak season, and that Beijing and Washington would again extend their deadline to reach a trade deal.
The metals market was broadly quiet, waiting for a U.S. inflation report this week that could help to determine whether the Federal Reserve lowers borrowing costs next month, one trader said.
Copper higher on US rate cut hopes
Lower interest rates improve prospects for economic growth-dependent industrial metals.
On the technical front, copper was supported by the 21 and 50-day moving averages around $9,735 to $9,740.
Among other LME metals, zinc was steady at $2,825 a ton. However, the discount of the cash contract against three-month zinc narrowed to 20 cents from $13 on August 15, with available stocks in LME-registered warehouses at a two-year low.
Aluminium lost 0.5% to $2,596.50 a ton, lead eased by 0.3% to $2,001.50, tin was unchanged at $33,450 and nickel was up 0.7% at $15,260.
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