London copper prices dropped on Monday, while some other base metals also declined, dragged by concerns about slowing demand outlook from top consumer China.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said it is “very difficult” for the world’s second-largest economy to grow at a rate of 6% or more because of the high base from which it was starting and the complicated international backdrop.
China’s economy grew 6.3% in the first half of the year.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 1.1% at $5,909.50 a tonne, as of 0156 GMT, slipping from a 1-1/2-month high hit in the previous session on easing trade tensions between the United States and China.
Prices of the metal will remain depressed through next year due to the continuing uncertainty caused by global trade tensions, local media on Friday cited top copper producer Codelco’s Chief Executive Officer Octavio Araneda as saying.
The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) rose 0.8% to 47,620 yuan ($6,734.55) a tonne, tracking LME copper’s gains in the previous session.
Shanghai Futures Exchange was closed on Friday for the mid-autumn festival.
FUNDAMENTALS
* PRICES: LME tin rose 2.1%, aluminium eased 0.3%, nickel dropped 1% and zinc declined 0.3%. In Shanghai, tin dropped 3.1%, nickel fell 2.6%, while aluminium was trading 0.7% lower.
* TIN SPREAD: The difference between LME cash to three-month tin contract CMSN0-3 flipped to discount after staying in the premium zone for six straight sessions, signalling that nearby supplies have become less tight.
* TIN: Malaysia Smelting Corp Berhad, the world’s third-largest refined tin producer, does not expect its output to fall this year even though the top two producers have flagged output cuts, its chief executive said.
* DAM: The Brazilian state of Minas Gerais signed a protocol of intent with Sul Americana de Metais, a unit of Chinese miner Honbridge Holdings, for the construction of a 9.1 billion reais ($2.2 billion) mining complex with a large tailing dam.
* ALUMINIUM: A sharp fall in Japanese physical premiums for fourth-quarter shipments is the latest sign that aluminium is not immune from the demand weakness that is sapping the industrial metals complex.
* U.S.-CHINA: China will exempt some agricultural products from additional tariffs on U.S. goods, including pork and soybeans, state media reported, in the latest sign of easing Sino-U.S. tensions before a new round of talks.
