Copper falls on stronger dollar, Chile supply worries cap downside

Business Recorder reported that copper slipped on Thursday, with the three-month contract on the London Metal Exchange down 0.2% at $14,595 a metric ton by 1405 GMT. A firmer dollar and caution before China's extended holiday weekend weighed on the metal, though worries about supply at major Chilean mines limited the decline. The metal has risen 9% this quarter after reaching a record $14,875 a ton two weeks earlier.

Chinese markets are shut for the Mid-Autumn Festival until Monday. Alastair Munro of Marex said wider macroeconomic forces mattered more than China's closure. The dollar stayed near a two-month high after a sharp rise on bets for further Federal Reserve rate increases, which lifts the cost of dollar-priced metals for overseas buyers. Chinese shares also posted their steepest one-day drop in a month as traders doubted a Trump and Xi meeting in Washington would yield a broad deal.

Supply worries deepened after BHP's Escondida mine, the world's largest copper operation, was halted on Wednesday following a fatal accident. Two unions at Antofagasta Minerals' Centinela mine called for a strike vote amid Escondida contract talks. LME cash copper's premium over the three-month contract widened to $107.5 a ton, the highest since September 1.