The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 1.67 percent at 47,760 yuan ($6,950) a tonne on Friday. The contract dipped by as much as 2.9 percent at the open. Lead and zinc were each up about 1 percent after closing lower overnight. Zinc prices are still nearly double the levels seen in January 2016 due to deficits arising from mine closures and shutdowns.
In Shanghai, aluminium was off 1.65 percent and zinc down 1.2 percent. Traders said worries persist about consumption levels in China after the country's housing minister on Thursday suggested moves were afoot to stabilise the property market.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange "Copper is below $6,000 (a tonne) again, but the drop may be seen as a little overdone, explaining the uptick today," said a commodities trader in Sydney who did not want to be named. "But I don't see all the losses being erased."Strike action at the Escondida copper mine in Chile, accounting for about 6 percent of world supply, was offering support, although the strike "at least in the short term" was largely factored into the market, the trader added.
Operator BHP Billiton's decision this week to delay its legal right to replace striking workers is seen a move aimed at sacrificing some output to undermine the union's position.
BHP made a surprise announcement on Tuesday, saying it would not seek to exercise its right to replace the 2,500 striking workers after 15 days - which would have been Friday. Instead, it said it would wait at least 30 days. A halt to the big Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia by Freeport McMoRan was also giving copper bulls solace. The row, which centres around the sanctity of Freeport's 30-year mining contract, comes as Indonesia seeks to squeeze more revenue out of its mining industry through a shake-up of regulations over foreign ownership and ore processing.
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