Dec 21 (Reuters) – Copper prices edged higher on Tuesday buoyed by a softer dollar, though jitters over the rapid spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant capped gains.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 rose 0.5% to $9,491 a tonne, as of 0240 GMT, while the most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 gained 0.4% to 69,180 yuan ($10,853.47) a tonne.
The dollar lost some ground overnight after U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who is key to President Joe Biden’s hopes of passing a $1.75 trillion domestic investment bill, said on Sunday he would not support the package. USD/
A weaker dollar makes the greenback-denominated commodity less expensive for those holding other currencies.
However, gains were limited by concerns over the fast-spreading Omicron variant, prompting restrictions in Europe and the United States.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME aluminium CMAL3 rose 0.3% to $2,680 a tonne, nickel CMNI3 gained 0.8% to $19,495 a tonne, lead CMPB3 edged 0.3% higher to $2,300.5 a tonne and tin CMSN3 was up 0.5% at $38,400 a tonne.
* ShFE aluminium SAFcv1 fell 0.9% to 19,535 yuan a tonne, nickel SNIcv1 was down 0.9% at 143,560 yuan a tonne, zinc SZNcv1 slipped 1.4% to 23,485 yuan a tonne, lead SPBcv1 edged up 0.3% to 15,545 yuan a tonne and tin SSNcv1 rose 0.5% to 284,550 yuan a tonne.
* Chile’s mining sector is bracing for tighter environmental rules ahead after President-elect Gabriel Boric pledged to oppose a controversial $2.5 billion iron-copper mine that was approved in August after years of legal wrangling.
* A Peruvian community blocking a road used by MMG Ltd’s 1208.HK Las Bambas copper mine will again not participate in a government-brokered meeting to be held on Tuesday, a representative said. The company suspended production indefinitely from Saturday.
* For the first nine months of the year, the market was in a 161,000 tonne deficit compared with a 239,000 tonne deficit in the same period a year earlier, the International Copper Study Group said.
* Global primary aluminium output fell 0.22% year on year in November to 5.497 million tonnes, data from the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) showed.
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TOP/MTL or MET/L
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
1500 EU Consumer Confidence Flash Dec
2350 Japan Bank of Japan releases minutes of Oct. 27-28 monetary policy meeting
($1 = 6.3740 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
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