London copper prices fell on Thursday, as the dollar hovered near a three-month high, making the greenback-priced metal more expensive to holders of other currencies.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.6% to $8,855 a tonne by 0233 GMT, while the most-traded April copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.6% to 69,390 yuan ($9,956.67) a tonne, tracking overnight gains in London.
The dollar held near a three-month high on US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s message that interest rates would have to go higher and possibly faster to tame inflation.
Easing supply disruptions in major copper producing countries also pressured prices. Panama’s government and Canada’s First Quantum Minerals agreed on the final text for a contract to operate the Cobre Panama mine, and Panamanian authorities allowed the company to resume concentrate loading operations.
Disruptions in Peru and Indonesia have also eased. LME aluminium rose 0.1% to $2,355 a tonne, zinc fell 0.3% to $2,965 a tonne, lead eased 0.1% to $2,090 a tonne and tin climbed 0.2% to $23,800 a tonne.
SHFE aluminium increased 0.2% to 18,550 yuan a tonne, nickel eased 0.2% to 187,410 yuan a tonne, zinc dipped 0.2% to 23,225 yuan a tonne, lead fell 0.1% to 15,170 yuan a tonne, and tin shed 1.6% to 195,040 yuan a tonne.