Aluminium, copper prices dented by Chinese data

Aluminium prices hit their lowest in two months on Tuesday, while copper also slid after poor industrial data from China, the world's biggest metals consumer, and a further fall in oil prices. Activity in China's factory sector contracted in December for the first time in seven months, the latest in a string of weak economic indicators.
Broader market sentiment was soured as Brent oil futures fell below $59 per barrel for the first time since May 2009, while the rouble plunged more than 10 percent for a second day and recorded its biggest fall since the Russian financial crisis in 1998. "The Chinese data were quite bad and the whole series of weak data that we've got over the past few weeks points to lower prices going forward," said analyst Daniel Briesemann at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
"I'm surprised that prices aren't lower," Briesemann added. "I think that's because there's still expectation that the Chinese government will introduce further stimulus measures to prevent a sharp drop in the economy." Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange ended down 0.81 percent at $1,906.50 per tonne, having earlier hit a two-month low at $1,900.75.
Copper dropped to its lowest since December 1 at $6,308.50, adding to a 1.4 percent loss from the previous session, before paring losses to end down 0.59 percent at a last bid of $6,362. "On the demand side, China is still positioning for a deceleration," said analyst Dominic Schnider of UBS Wealth Management in Singapore. "(On falling oil) people underestimate that the cost curve comes down and people should take that into consideration next year. Supply can be stronger than people think. That means on a net-net basis I still have difficulties seeing copper rising."
China's production of refined copper rose 3.1 percent from the previous month in November, hitting a record for the fourth straight month as high processing fees prompted smelters to produce more metal. Among other metals, LME lead struck its lowest since August 2012 at $1,911.25 a tonne and ended down 2.44 percent at $1,920 a tonne. Lead has been weighed down by lower growth in electric bike sales in China and high finished stocks of batteries, a trader at a hedge fund said. Zinc shed 1.43 percent to end at $2,140 a tonne, its lowest since June, and tin lost 1.50 percent to close at $20,045. Nickel closed down 2.88 percent at $16,000 a tonne.