London copper extended decline to a two-week low on Tuesday, as a stronger dollar and worries about demand in top consumer China weighed on sentiment.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.4% at $9,060 a metric ton, as of 0215 GMT, after touching its lowest level since Jan. 10 earlier in the session.
The dollar index was up 0.6%, making greenback prices metals costlier for other currency holders.
Data on Monday showed that China’s manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted in January, keeping alive calls for stimulus in the world’s second-largest economy.
Trading was also affected by Chinese buyers who are absent due to Lunar New Year holiday.
The Shanghai Futures Exchange will be closed from Jan. 28 to Feb.4.
Further weighing on sentiment was tariff fears, which are back in the picture after the US and Colombia pulled back from the brink of a trade war.
Meanwhile, a Reuters poll showed that analysts have marked down their forecasts for copper prices in 2025.
The cash copper contract on LME should average $9,425 per ton this year, a median forecast of 33 analysts showed, down 4.8% from $9,898 in the last poll in October.
Copper retreats as China sells ahead of Lunar holiday
Three-month aluminium was down 0.1% at $2,600.5.Zinc fell 0.2% to $2,834.5 a ton, lead was steady at $1,949, tin gained 0.3% to $29,720 and nickel was up 0.6% to $15,650.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Nornickel, the world’s major producer of refined nickel, said on Monday it sees its nickel output at 204,000-211,000 tons in 2025, an up to 3% increase from last year.
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