Copper falls as higher dollar outweighs fresh supply woes

Business Recorder reported that copper slipped on Tuesday as a firmer dollar and gloomy economic signals outweighed renewed worries about tight supply. The three-month contract on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.41 per cent to $14,214 a metric ton by 0301 GMT. The drop reversed Monday's rally, which had been fuelled by a sharp rise in LME warrant cancellations.

On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most-traded copper contract edged up 0.17 per cent to 107,930 yuan ($16,051.93) a ton. ANZ commodity strategist Daniel Hynes said those cancellations, which signal metal earmarked for withdrawal from warehouses, revived concerns about shortages. Traders also faced a stronger greenback, worries over interest rates and cautious sentiment that pressured the wider industrial metals complex.

Aluminium slipped 0.67 per cent on the LME even though a Guinea rail accident involving a Rusal train halted shipments from a 600,000-ton-a-year alumina plant. Zinc, lead, nickel and tin also declined on the LME, while SHFE prices for the metals were mixed.