By Brijesh Patel
Copper prices slipped from a one-week high on Thursday, as demand worries due to a spike in COVID-19 infections in top consumer China overshadowed support from a weaker dollar and declining inventories.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.2% at $8,377.00 a tonne by 0710 GMT, after hitting its highest since Dec. 15 earlier in the session.
The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended daytime trading up 0.3% at 65,820 yuan ($9,429.80) a tonne.
China may be struggling to keep a tally of COVID-19 infections as the country experiences a big spike in cases, a senior World Health Organization official said on Wednesday, a surge that could seriously dent the world’s number two economy.
Mainland China’s Health Commission reported 3,030 new symptomatic coronavirus cases for Dec. 21, compared with 3,101 new cases a day earlier.
“COVID is kind of expected, China won’t back down on closing economy again,” a Singapore-based metals trader said.
However, “metals are supported by a refreshed pledge by People’s Bank of China to support the property sector, the weaker dollar and on bullish U.S. equities.”
The dollar fell 0.3% against its rivals, making the metals priced in the U.S. currency more attractive to non-dollar buyers.
China will seize the time moment to implement policy measures to support the economy, aiming for an improvement in growth in early 2023, state media on Wednesday quoted the cabinet as saying.
The latest data available show copper stocks in LME warehouse fell to their lowest since Nov. 11 at 81,350 tonnes.
Asian stocks climbed into the black on Thursday after an upbeat reading on U.S. consumers cheered Wall Street investors.
Among other metals, LME aluminum was steady at $2,392.50 a tonne, zinc slipped 0.4% to $2,997, lead eased 0.2% to $2,208, and tin was flat at $24,060.
SHFE aluminum was flat at 18,635 yuan a tonne, zinc fell 0.7% to 23,340 yuan and nickel rose 1.6% to 218,960 yuan, and tin was up 0.3% at 195,110 yuan.
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Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 1.3% at $7,972.50 a tonne, as of 0439 GMT, after hitting its lowest since Nov. 8 earlier in the session.
The country brought in 255,744 tonnes, including primary metal and unwrought, alloyed aluminium, last month, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.