Copper extends fall as economic slowdown fears mount

Article content

Copper prices extended declines on

Thursday to a 16-month low on COVID-19 concerns in China and

mounting worries that aggressive U.S. interest rate hikes would

tip the global economy into recession, slashing metals demand.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange

fell 2% to $8,600 a tonne by 0228 GMT, after dropping to its

lowest since Feb. 19, 2021 at $8,564.50.

* The most-traded July copper contract in Shanghai

slipped 3.2% to 65,840 yuan ($9,808.13) a tonne, its lowest

Article content

since late-August.

* The Federal Reserve is not trying to engineer a recession

to stop inflation but is fully committed to bringing prices

under control even if doing so risks an economic downturn, U.S.

central bank chief Jerome Powell said on Wednesday.

* A Reuters poll showed the Fed will deliver another

75-basis-point interest rate hike in July, followed by a

half-percentage-point rise in September.

* Mainland China reported 135 new coronavirus cases for June

22, compared with 126 new cases a day earlier, the National

Health Commission said.

* Japan’s factory activity growth slowed in June as China’s

strict COVID-19 curbs took a toll on manufacturing demand.

* A community in Peru’s Andes mountains on Wednesday

Article content

suspended their blockade of a highway used by MMG Ltd’s Las

Bambas copper mine, agreeing to negotiate with the government

and the company over the road’s use, one of the community’s

leaders said.

* Workers at Chilean state-owned mining giant Codelco, the

world’s largest copper producer, launched a major strike on

Wednesday to protest the closure of a smelter over environmental

issues, though the government downplayed the impact on

operations.

* The global nickel market deficit narrowed to 200 tonnes in

April, compared with a shortfall a month earlier of 8,900

tonnes, data from the International Nickel Study Group showed.

MARKETS NEWS

* Asian shares wobbled while commodity prices fell on

Thursday as mounting worries about the risks of a global

Article content

recession kept broad investor sentiment fragile.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0715 France S&P Global Mfg, Serv, Comp Flash PMIs June

0730 Germany S&P Global Mfg, Serv, Comp Flash PMIs June

0800 EU S&P Global Mfg, Serv, Comp Flash PMIs June

0830 UK Flash Comp, Mfg, Serv PMIs June

1230 US Initial Jobless Clm Weekly

1345 US S&P Global Mfg, Serv, Comp Flash PMIs June

PRICES

Three month LME copper

Most active ShFE copper

Three month LME aluminum

Most active ShFE aluminum

Three month LME zinc

Most active ShFE zinc

Three month LME lead

Most active ShFE lead

Three month LME nickel

Most active ShFE nickel

Three month LME tin

Most active ShFE tin

($1 = 6.7128 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; editing by

Uttaresh.V)