Copper prices fell on Friday on worries about demand in top consumer China, while nickel hit a four-week low after stocks in LME-registered warehouses climbed to a record high. Three-month copper was untraded at the close but bid at $6,161 a tonne from $6,260 on Thursday. Earlier in the day, it touched a three-week low of $6,143. The metal used in power and construction is down more than 3 percent so far this week, heading for its biggest weekly loss since January.
"Demand could prove to be somewhat better if the global economy recovers," said Daniel Briesemann, analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. China's imports of unwrought copper and copper alloy reached 380,000 tonnes in April, taking imports in the first four months of the year to 1.35 million tonnes, down 14.7 percent from a year ago.
But the monthly import figure has increased since February. "If Chinese consumers become comfortable with the outlook in the second half of the year, they'll move beyond restocking activity to actually (boosting) production of finished products, which would be the real kicker for demand and push prices higher," Daniel Hynes, analyst at ANZ said. Nickel slipped 2.2 percent to $12,710 a tonne, having hit a one-month low of $12,680 earlier in the day. Nickel stocks rose 8,922 tonnes to a record 446,868 tonnes.
Prices of the metal, used in stainless steel, are down more than 8 percent for the week, heading for their biggest weekly fall since September 2011. "Stocks and spreads are telling a similar story. There is no shortage of nickel, not yet anyway, and unlikely to be for a long time," a nickel trader said. The discount for the cash contract over the three-month future at around $43 a tonne is up from near $30 late April.
Aluminium edged 0.3 percent lower to $1,768 a tonne. The metal used in transport and packaging has come under pressure from oversupply and earlier fell to $1,757, its lowest since mid-April. Lead dropped 1.3 percent to $1,947 and zinc 0.6 percent to $2,177. Tin remained unchanged from Thursday's close at $15,825 a tonne.