Copper set for smallest quarterly gain since March 2020

HANOI: Copper prices rose on Wednesday, but were set for their smallest quarterly gain since March 2020 on pressure from a firm dollar and top consumer China's efforts to tame a red-hot metals rally.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.4% to $9,375 a tonne by 0342 GMT and was up 6.7% for the quarter. It has lost 8.6% so far in June, on track for its first monthly fall in three.

The most-traded August copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.2% to 68,420 yuan a tonne, also set for the weakest quarterly gain since March 2020 when China's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic aided metals prices.

Copper prices have pulled back in recent weeks after hitting a record high in May on the back of a global economic recovery, rising investments into renewable energy and electric vehicles, as well as a tight supply outlook.

Some of the pressure has come from China, with the world's second-largest economy releasing state reserves of copper, aluminium and zinc as part of its pledge to control a recent surge in commodities prices.

Strength in the dollar on expectations of sooner-than-anticipated policy tightening in the United States has also made greenback-priced metals more expensive and less appealing to holders of other currencies.