Copper tiptoes higher on weaker dollar, tight Chinese supplies

LONDON: Copper prices crept higher on Friday, boosted by a weaker dollar and shortages in China, but gains were modest as investors remained wary about the potential for more rate hikes that could dampen metals demand.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.2% to $14,645 a metric ton in official open-outcry trading, a 0.8% increase from last week’s close.

Financial markets including industrial metals have been roiled by bond markets, which have been hit hard by the inflationary concerns unleashed by higher energy prices.

Oil prices dipped on Friday and the dollar pulled back after touching its strongest in nearly two months, making commodities priced in the US currency relatively cheaper for buyers using other currencies.

“Some of those pressure points that we had in the last few days are coming off a bit today, but people are getting a little risk averse in this environment,” said Nitesh Shah, commodity strategist at WisdomTree.

“The market has probably put a bit too much into rate hike expectations, so I do think demand for base metals probably will surprise towards the upside rather than the downside.”

Trading volumes were lighter than usual since the Shanghai Futures Exchange was closed on Friday for a holiday.

LME copper has gained 10% over the past three months as persistent speculation about the potential of US tariffs has sent large flows of metal there, creating shortages elsewhere.

“Visible inventories in China have dropped off quite a lot, while smelters have been announcing reduced production schedules for maintenance… the Chinese market is clearly quite tight,” said David Wilson, head of metals strategy at BNP Paribas.

LME zinc climbed to its strongest in two weeks at $3,989.50 a ton, before going into the red at $3,950, a loss of 0.1%. It has been supported by supply fears after smelter Nyrstar said it was launching a strategic review of its Dutch zinc smelting operations.

The premium of LME cash zinc to the three month contract -3 jumped to $106 a ton on Thursday from $65.35 a day earlier, suggesting tightening physical availability.

Among other LME metals, aluminium rose 0.5% in official activity to $3,265 a ton and tin added 0.3% to $54,150 while lead fell 0.3% to $1,928 and nickel slid 1.8% to $16,210.