Shanghai Futures Exchange copper ended down 0.4 percent at 39,260 yuan ($6,163) a tonne on Tuesday. Activity in China's factory sector shrank at its fastest rate in at least three years in August as domestic and export orders tumbled, increasing investors' fears that the world's second-largest economy may be lurching toward a hard landing.
Even more worrying, China's services sector, which has been one of the lone bright spots in the sputtering economy, also showed signs of cooling, a similar business survey said. Good news came on the demand side for copper and aluminium. China will spend at least 2 trillion yuan ($315 billion) to improve its power grid infrastructure over the 2015-2020 period, a report by a government newspaper said on Monday. Power is a key consuming sector of both metals in cables and substations.
Expectations for a slowdown in mine supply are also helping to support copper prices. Morgan Stanley has revised its copper market balance closer to flat from a 230,000 tonne surplus, with 400,000 tonnes of potential mine supply lost so far this year.
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