LME ASIAN WRAP: Copper prices fall as oil stumbles

Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange fell below the key $6,500 mark following the tumble in crude oil prices before rallying back slightly in Asian trade on Friday November 28.

Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange fell below the key $6,500 mark following the tumble in crude oil prices before rallying back slightly in Asian trade on Friday November 28.

Brent crude oil fell to a four-year low of $72.82 a barrel while US crude fell almost 7% to $68.59. This led to the dollar rising and oil-linked currencies and shares tumbling.

At 02:32 London time, the three-month copper contract was down $28 from its opening to trade at $6,496.75 per tonne. It touched a high of $6,527 per tonne and a low of $6,484.25 per tonne.

With the USA celebrating Thanksgiving holidays on Thursday, the market was surprised to see more than 4,000 lots of copper being traded in the first half-hour of opening of LMEselect.

“There was [Chinese] Mainland interest under $6,500 per tonne,” said a broker in Asia.

A second broker defined the fall as “aggressive”, adding that there will be more buying interest from China below $6,500 per tonne.

Shanghai Futures Exchange copper prices fell following LME’s losses in Asian morning trading, with the most traded February contract opening at 46,660 yuan ($7,568.11) per tonne before falling to 46,140 yuan at 10:30 Beijing time.

Spot copper prices on the Changjiang Nonferrous Metals Exchange lost 660 yuan to 47,030-47,060 yuan per tonne.

By 02:32 London time, three-month aluminium was down $1.75 at $2,040 per tonne.
Lead was down $2.75 at $2,054.75 per tonne.
Zinc traded flat at$2,255 per tonne.
Nickel was down $5 at $16,300 per tonne.
Tin was untraded.

Shivani Singh
shivani.singh@metalbulletinasia.com
Twitter: shivani.singh@metalbulletinasia.com

What to read next
Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Port of Sohar in Oman are becoming tactical workarounds for base metal exports blocked by the Strait of Hormuz closure, with cargo transiting via land-bridge to other Gulf states, such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates – though capacity constraints and elevated logistics costs limit availability, sources with direct visibility of Gulf supply chains told Fastmarkets.
The Mexican aluminium market might be strongly affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with supply constraints and consequently higher premiums, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 10.
Lundin Mining and BHP published a preliminary economic assessment on February 16 for their Vicuña joint venture, projecting average annual copper production of 395,000 tonnes over the first 25 years of operation as Argentina’s copper concentrate pipeline continues to build. PSJ Cobre Mendocino separately confirmed on February 14 that its feasibility study was under way.
Chinese lead smelters turned more bearish on the procurement of raw materials in the week to Friday February 13, amid heightened price volatility in silver, which is often contained in lead ores as an important by-product and contributor to smelter profits, sources told Fastmarkets.
Roughly 40,000 tonnes per month of copper cathode that once flowed smoothly into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) through Jebel Ali had few options to reroute after the Strait of Hormuz officially closed on Monday March 2, with the only alternative entry points — Khor Fakkan and Fujairah — already straining under the weight of diverted cargo, market sources told Fastmarkets.
Navigating market volatility with data-driven strategies for resilient mining operations