Copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was set for its biggest weekly drop since September 2020 after a sizzling rally with near 40% gains since the start of the year to a record peak of $10,747.50 last week.
Three-month LME copper had slid 1.6% to a two-week low of $9,884 a tonne, down 3.5% on the week.
Prices have rocketed 25% this year as commodities and equities markets surged and investors anticipate that a crackdown on polluting smelters in China will constrain supply.
Adding impetus was China saying it would "indefinitely" suspend all activity under a China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue, deepening a crisis in relations.
Copper output fell 1.3% in March, to 491,720 tonnes, the agency said, coinciding with a raft of new restrictions on movement and commerce following the Southern Hemisphere's summer holidays.
Chile's copper production fell 2.2% year on year, to 1.4 million tonnes, in the first quarter of 2021, according to INE's statistics.
"(Copper is) supported by a weaker dollar and dovish comments from the Federal Reserve," said commodities broker Anna Stablum of Marex Spectron in a note.
