Copper, aluminum down on Chinese trade data

HANOI — Copper and aluminium prices on both the London and Shanghai exchanges on Monday fell after China reported lowerthan-expected export and import figures for December.

China’s December exports unexpectedly fell 4.4% from a year earlier, the biggest monthly drop in two years, pointing to further weakening in the world’s secondlargest economy, while imports also unexpectedly contracted, falling 7.6%.

“The headline imports and exports numbers are below market expectation by a big margin. The sentiment is not that great,” said analyst Helen Lau of Argonaut Securities, adding that China now might be more willing to make a deal with the US.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.4% to $5,920 a ton by 0329 GMT, while the most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost 0.6% to 46,870 yuan ($70,588.84) a ton.

China’s 2018 imports of unwrought copper rose 12.9% from a year earlier to a record annual high of 5.3 million tons.

London nickel fell 0.5% while lead broke a six-session straight gain to decrease 0.7%. In Shanghai, nickel reached its 6-week high in early trade but gains were capped following China data release.

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