Aluminium, copper sink on disquiet over China COVID cases
LONDON - Prices of aluminium, copper and other industrial metals faltered on Wednesday on concern about surging Covid cases in top metals consumer China after it relaxed strict controls.
Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange dropped 1% to $2 436.50/t by 11:20 GMT, paring gains of 2% in the previous session.
LME copper dipped 0.1% to $8 487/t after having hit its highest since June 23 on Tuesday.
"The situation in China regarding Covid is still pretty unclear," said Geordie Wilkes, head of research at Sucden Financial.
"It's getting clearer in terms of their approach to Covid, but what we're seeing is a strong divergence between sentiment and actual fundamentals on the ground."
A week after China began dismantling its tough 'zero-Covid' controls, the World Health Organization warned of "very tough" times ahead and state media reported some seriously ill patients at hospitals in Beijing, raising fears of a wave of infections.
Declining physical premiums for copper suggest weaker demand, said Soni Kumari, a commodity strategist at ANZ Research.
The Yangshan copper premium has slid to $55.50/t, the weakest since June, from $152.50 in October.
Investors were also nervous ahead of a meeting of the US Federal Reserve, which is expected to slow the pace of interest rate hikes.
"There are still large clouds overhanging the market. Whether the market is fully pricing in tighter monetary policy and whether there's the prospect for stagflation is yet to be seen," Wilkes said.
Cushioning losses was a softer dollar index after weaker than expected US inflation data, making commodities priced in the US currency cheaper for buyers using other currencies.
Among other metals, nickel dipped 0.4% to $28 180 a tonne, zinc shed 1.5% to $3 269.50, lead eased 2% to $2 162.50 and tin fell 1% to $24 400.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Supplier & Distributor of the Widest Range of Accurate & Easy-to-Use Alcohol Breathalysers
VISIT SHOWROOM
Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
