Market and product
Copper Leads Industrial Metals Lower on China Growth
Copper dropped as much as 0.7 percent after closing yesterday at the highest in more than a week. Producer prices in China fell 2.7 percent in November, below the 2.4 percent drop forecast in a Bloomberg News survey before data released today. Consumer prices rose 1.4 percent, compared with the 1.6 percent increase in October. China’s GDP growth is seen at 6.8 percent next year, compared with the country’s official target of 7 percent, BNP Paribas SA analysts wrote in a note dated yesterday.
“The PPI and CPI data showed we are still in the middle of a slowdown,” said Li Ye, a Shanghai-based analyst at Shenyin & Wanguo Futures Co. “We may need to reduce our expectations for metals consumption growth.”
Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.3 percent to $6,457.75 a metric ton at 3:04 p.m. in Hong Kong. In New York, March futures retreated 0.4 percent to $2.9165 a pound, while in Shanghai the metal for February delivery gained 0.7 percent to close at 46,260 yuan ($7,491) a ton.
Workers at the Antamina copper mine in Peru plan to stop work today over pay and bonuses. The site, owned by BHP Billiton Ltd. and Glencore Plc, is the world’s sixth-biggest source of the metal by capacity, according to the International Copper Study Group.
On the LME, zinc and aluminum were little changed and nickel rose. Lead and tin fell.
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