LONDON: Copper prices rebounded on Wednesday with calls to boost consumption at a meeting of China’s top decision-making body as the manufacturing sector continued to slow down.
The most traded three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange(LME) was near a one-week high of $9,169.5 per metric ton. It last traded 1.8% higher at $9,130 at 1054 GMT.
The rebound in copper prices was supported by rising expectations for more stimulus after official factory data in the top metals consumer China slipped to a five-month low in July, said Ewa Manthey, a commodities analyst at ING.
Beijing’s Politburo signalled on Tuesday a sense of urgency to revive the $17 trillion economy, calling for policies that would increase wages and boost domestic consumption.
Manthey also cited a dip-buying in the physical market, as copper prices fell by 18% from an all-time high in May. On a monthly basis, copper was down by almost 5%.
China demand concerns, risk-off sentiment drag copper below $9,000/t
For other metals, aluminium prices gained 1.6% to $2,261, after slipping to a five-month low in the previous session.
The discount or contango for the cash against the three-month contract reached $66.53 a ton, the biggest since 1998.
Contango, a condition where forward prices on LME are higher than near-term prices, typically signal a good immediate supply of the metal. In warehouses monitored by LME in Port Klang, 539,475 tonnes of aluminum were earmarked for delivery.
LME aluminium, as well as lead, were still heading for their biggest monthly losses since June 2022, as investors’ interest in metals faded following rallies in the second quarter.
Nickel jumped 3% to $16,545, zinc advanced 1.6% to $2,671, lead increased 0.7% to $2,050 and tin climbed 4% to $29,930.
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