BEIJING: Copper prices in Shanghai and London held steady on Tuesday as a boost from the extension of the Sino-U.S. trade truce deadline offset growing supply and a stronger dollar that curbed the upside.
The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was flat at 78,960 yuan ($10,987.27) per metric ton as of 0148 GMT.
The benchmark three-month LME copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.25% to $9,751 a ton.
On Monday, the United States and China extended the tariff truce deadline, which is set to expire on Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT), for another 90 days.
The extension buys crucial time for the seasonal autumn surge of imports for the Christmas season, including electronics at lower tariff rates, bolstering sentiment in the broad commodities market.
But expectations of increasing supply of the metal used in power and construction capped price gains.
Copper production from Chilean state-run miner Codelco rose 17% year-on-year in June to 120,200 tons.
Chile’s state regulators have approved the reopening of parts of the El Teniente mine not affected by the collapse on July 31 that killed six workers, Codelco said, easing supply concerns and weighing down prices.
Analysts at consultancy Mysteel expected the refined copper output in the world’s largest industrial metals consumer to register record highs in July and August, with new smelting capacity going online and less equipment maintenance.
SHFE aluminium was little changed, nickel added 0.68%, lead was flat, tin rose 1.05%, while zinc dipped 0.27%.
LME aluminium advanced 0.31%, nickel eased 0.13%, lead was flat, tin added 0.18% and zinc grew 0.25%.
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