Copper prices fell on Monday as a surge in COVID-19 cases globally raised investor concerns about a steady global economic recovery and metals demand, including that of copper which is often used as a gauge of global economic health.
Daily new coronavirus infections have jumped in the United States, Europe and Asia amid the spread of the Delta variant, making investors nervous and sending money into safety.
Meanwhile, the dollar hovered near its highest levels in months, making greenback-priced metals more expensive and less appealing to holders of other currencies.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 fell 0.6% to $9,372 a tonne by 0610 GMT, while the most-traded August copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 declined 0.7% to 68,730 yuan a tonne.
“Those who would seek to push the metals higher stood aside today as the Asian equities are all down,” said Malcolm Freeman, a director at UK brokerage Kingdom Futures, in a note.
“The world of equities is still being unnerved by the Covid Delta spread and the fears that recovery will not be as quick and simple as might have been hoped for at first,” he said.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME nickel CMNI3 rose 0.3% to $19,130 a tonne, zinc CMZN3 declined 0.9% to $2,975.50 a tonne and tin CMSN3 fell 0.3% to $33,490 a tonne.
* ShFE tin SSNcv1 climbed 3.2% to 232,730 yuan a tonne, aluminium SAFcv1 shed 1.2% to 19,260 yuan a tonne and nickel SNIcv1 jumped 1.9% to 143,560 yuan a tonne.
* China’s aluminium imports in June rose 30% from the prior month, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed on Sunday.
* China will strengthen commodity price monitoring and continue to release copper, aluminium, and zinc from its state reserves in batches, the National Development and Reform Commission said.
* Aurubis AG NAFG.DE, Europe’s largest copper producer, said on Friday that floods had stopped production at its Stolberg copper products plant in Germany.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; editing by Vinay Dwivedi)