BEIJING: Copper prices were under pressure on Wednesday as expectations of prolonged tepid demand offset support from a weaker dollar, while trading remained cautious ahead of key U.S. inflation data.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was little moved at $8,595 a tonne, as of 0443 GMT.

Investors are awaiting key U.S. consumer prices data to be released later in the day, which will provide more clues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path.

China April copper imports fall amid weak demand

Amid caution, the dollar weakened broadly on Wednesday after U.S. President Joe Biden and top lawmakers failed to break a deadlock on the debt ceiling crisis.

The contract has made little movement so far this month, after recording its biggest monthly drop since June 2022 in April.

Any rebound might be capped as tepid demand is expected to stay for at least the second quarter, analysts at Meierya Futures said, adding the increases in inventories outside of China added further pressure to global prices.

Copper inventories <MCUSTX-TOTAL> in LME-approved warehouses have climbed 40% to 71,675 tonnes since April 18.

Meanwhile, Peru’s March copper production leapt 20.4% from a year earlier to reach 219,275 tonnes, the country’s energy and mining ministry said on Tuesday, as large mines resume their operations following stoppages due to social protests.

The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange eased 0.3% to 67,190 yuan ($9,720.63) a tonne.

LME aluminium dipped 0.3% at $2,314 a tonne, tin climbed 0.1% to $26,025, zinc trimmed 0.1% to $2,672, nickel gained 0.1% to $23,535, while lead eased 0.4% to $2,127.50.

SHFE aluminium slid 0.3% to 18,265 yuan a tonne, lead ticked up 0.3% to 15,300 yuan, nickel fell 3% to 178,110 yuan, tin was down 2.4% at 206,240 yuan, and zinc dipped 0.2% to 21,405 yuan.