By Eileen Soreng
Dec 16 (Reuters) – London copper prices jumped 2% on Thursday, boosted by improved risk sentiment after the U.S. Federal Reserve struck an upbeat tone on economic recovery, while a halt to production at a major mine in Peru lifted supply concerns amid strong demand outlook.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was up 2.1% at $9,391.5 a tonne, as of 0540 GMT. In the previous session, the metal hit a low since Oct. 7 at $9,135.
The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 inched down 0.1% to 68,590 yuan ($10,771.89) a tonne.
The positive increments from other channels of copper demand such as EVs, renewables and electrical network investment actually outweigh the drag from Chinese property and machinery, Goldman Sachs said in a note, while raising onshore demand growth for the metal to 4.5% from 3% in 2022.
This would put copper on an accelerated path to depletion, the bank added.
Copper, widely used in infrastructure projects, is often seen as a gauge of global economic health with China being its top consumer.
Lifting concerns over supply tightness, MMG Ltd 1208.HK said it will shut production at its Las Bambas copper mine in Peru from Dec. 18 after it failed to reach an agreement with the Peruvian community blocking a transport road used by the facility.
Meanwhile, on-warrant LME inventories MCUSTX-TOTAL slipped to 80,720 tonnes, with LME cash copper on the three-month contract MCU0-3 switching back to a premium of $15 a tonne.
The U.S. central bank said it would end its bond purchases in March and pave the way for three quarter-percentage-point interest rate hikes by the end of 2022 as the economy nears full employment and the central bank copes with a surge of inflation.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME aluminium CMAL3 rose 1.4% to $2,632 a tonne, zinc CMZN3 climbed 1.5% to $3,319 a tonne, nickel CMNI3 advanced 1% to $19,315 a tonne and lead CMPB3 was up 0.5% at $2,295 a tonne.
* ShFE aluminium SAFcv1 gained 0.6% to 19,220 yuan a tonne, nickel SNIcv1 eased 0.1% to 142,270 yuan a tonne, lead SPBcv1 fell 0.8% to 15,330 yuan a tonne and tin SSNcv1 was 0.4% lower at 283,610 yuan a tonne.
* China’s finance ministry said on Wednesday it would raise the export tax on blister copper in 2022. A table published by the ministry showed the export duty on unrefined copper and copper anodes for electrolytic refining would double to 30% next year. China’s exports of this category totalled just 122 tonnes in the first 10 months of this year.
* Regulators in Shanghai, including local branches of the People’s Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, held meetings with some real-estate firms on Wednesday and on Dec. 9 offering to help the embattled industry, local media reported.
* For the top stories in metals and other news, click
TOP/MTL or MET/L
($1 = 6.3675 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
(([email protected]; Within U.S. +1 646 223 8780, Outside U.S. +91 80 6749 6131; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
www.nasdaq.com