Copper prices flat near 1-month low on China Evergrande jitters

Copper prices were flat on Tuesday, hovering near a one-month low as a debt crisis at property giant China Evergrande Group spurred a sell-off across markets and stoked worries about the demand for the metal used widely in construction.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was nearly unchanged at $9,035.50 a tonne by 0627 GMT, after hitting its lowest since Aug. 20 on Monday of $8,975. The contract has lost 5.1% so far this month.

Asian stocks struggled to shake off contagion fears and selling pressure persisted amid concern that troubles at indebted developer China Evergrande could ripple across the global economy.

Investors were also on alert for a faster pace of stimulus tightening in the United States, as central bank officials there entered a two-day meeting that is due to conclude on Wednesday.

“Markets are still waiting for clarity how Evergrande will be able to manage its $300 billion of liabilities. Tomorrow focus will shift to the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting with officials starting to envision how to pare back stimulus,” said commodities broker Anna Stablum of Marex Spectron in a note.

Chinese markets are closed for a holiday and will reopen on Wednesday.

FUNDAMENTALS

The global world refined copper market showed a deficit of 90,000 tonnes in June, compared with a surplus of 4,000 tonnes in the prior month, the International Copper Study Group said in its latest monthly bulletin.

Aurubis AG, Europe’s largest copper producer, said on Monday its Stolberg copper products plant in Germany would start resuming some production on Nov. 1.

LME aluminium edged down 0.3% at $2,854 a tonne, nickel fell 0.9% to $18,890 a tonne, zinc advanced 0.1% to $3,018 a tonne and lead increased 0.2% to $2,160.50 a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Rashmi Aich)