Base metals fall on weak trade data from China

LONDON — Copper fell to a twoweek low on Friday after trade data from top consumer China pointed to a slowing economy despite recent stimulus measures, denting demand expectations for base metals.

China’s exports fell by the most in three years in February while imports fell for a third straight month, pointing to a further slowdown in an economy which is at its weakest in almost 30 years.

“The optimism that has been built up from an upcoming trade war deal has dissipated as underlying data shows that the picture isn’t as optimistic as everybody expected,” said BMO Capital Markets analyst Kash Kamal.

US President Donald Trump said this week that talks aimed at ending a long-standing trade conflict with China were moving along well after he postponed a sharp US tariff hike slated for early March.

The optimism had flowed into base metals, with nickel climbing the most among metals so far this year.

But on Friday, three-month copper ended 0.4% lower at $6,395 per ton, after touching its lowest since Feb. 20.

China’s unwrought copper imports fell year on year in February to their lowest in 11 months, while copper concentrate imports rose to tie with the all-time monthly record, signaling that the world’s top copper consumer is churning out more metal itself.

China last week sought to shore up its slowing economy through billions of dollars in planned tax cuts and infrastructure spending, with economic growth hit by softer domestic demand and a trade war.

“Today’s (Chinese) trade data is just further confirmation that the outlook is tentative and (the stimulus) is going to take a while to flow through,” said BMO’s Kamal.

Inventories in LME-registered warehouses stood at 116,725 tons, the lowest since 2008.

The premium of cash LME copper over the three-month contract was at $35.50 a ton after touching its highest since January 2015 at $70 early last week.

Aluminum ended 0.4% higher at $1,872 a ton; zinc finished 0.9% lower at $2,711; lead fell 0.7% to $2,091; tin slipped 0.5% to $21,375; while nickel closed 1.1% lower at $13,090. —