Home / Commodities / Commodity News / LME copper eyes worst week since Sept 2020 on China price curb fears

LME copper eyes worst week since Sept 2020 on China price curb fears

London copper was set for its biggest weekly drop since September 2020 on Friday, hit by fears that authorities in China would take measures to curb a rally in commodity prices.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 1.3% to $9,921.50 a tonne by 0702 GMT, down 3.1% on a weekly basis.

The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed down 1.2% to 71,980 yuan ($11,189.01) a tonne, also down from a week earlier.

China, the world’s biggest copper user, said on Wednesday it would strengthen its management of commodity supply and demand to curb “unreasonable” increases in prices, and prevent them being passed on to consumers.

“The statement from Beijing about curbing high commodity prices due to excessive speculation seems to be sinking in and it now appears to be becoming a battle between Beijing’s wishes and massive amounts of speculative money from the West,” said Malcolm Freeman, a director at UK broker Kingdom Futures.

“With nervousness creeping into the equities globally and the shiny world of Bitcoin starting to become tarnished, it looks like the markets could be in for a bumpy ride,” he added.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The global nickel market deficit widened to 16,100 tonnes in March from a 600-tonne gap in February, International Nickel Study Group data showed.

* The global world refined copper market showed a 111,000 tonne surplus in February, compared with a 20,000 tonnes surplus in January, the International Copper Study Group said.

* After a year of record-breaking cash injections, the world’s big central banks are starting to ease off the stimulus pedal, forcing economies and financial markets to practice walking on their own again.

* ShFE nickel dropped 3.2% to 124,270 yuan a tonne, LME nickel shed 1.8% to $16,840 a tonne and LME aluminum declined 1.4% to $2,363.50 a tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Elaine Hardcastle)

Recent Videos

Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and International Shipping