Copper price slips as China demand woes resurface

The copper price fell on Monday, as a stronger US dollar and renewed worries over demand due to partial lockdowns in China weighed on sentiment.

Copper for delivery in July fell 2.7% from Friday’s settlement, touching $4.17 per pound ($9,188 per tonne) Monday morning on the Comex market in New York.

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The most-traded July copper contract in Shanghai fell 0.5% at 72,490 yuan ($10,831.53) a tonne.

Beijing raced to contain a “ferocious” outbreak, with millions facing mandatory testing and thousands under targeted lockdowns, after the capital city recently relaxed curbs.

Mass testing was also announced in the Shanghai commercial hub, following a recent two-month lockdown, while an outbreak was detected in Inner Mongolia.

China’s factory-gate inflation cooled in May, official data showed on Friday, depressed by weak demand for steel, aluminum, and other key industrial commodities due to tight covid-19 curbs.

(Files from Reuters)