LONDON: Copper prices slumped to their lowest in more than two weeks on Tuesday, driven down by concerns that a weak Chinese economy is curbing demand in the world’s biggest metals consumer.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dropped 2% to $8,996.50 a metric ton by 1615 GMT for its weakest since Aug. 15.
US Comex copper futures slid 2.9% to $4.05 a lb.
Recent data from China showed that manufacturing activity sank to a six-month low in August and growth in new home prices slowed in August. China’s factories and crisis-hit property sector are major consumers of copper and other industrial metals.
“People are focusing once again on some of the weaknesses and fundamentals. China isn’t growing strongly and the macroeconomic backdrop is clearly weak,” said WisdomTree commodity strategist Nitesh Shah.
“China is in a holding pattern right now. It’s waiting for the Federal Reserve to cut rates, which will give the green light to the PBOC to do a much more broad-based monetary easing,” he said, referring to the US and Chinese central banks.
Goldman Sachs cut its 2025 copper price forecast sharply on Monday, projecting an average price of $10,100 a ton, down from its previous forecast of $15,000.
“We believe that copper inventory depletion - and its accompanying price rally - will likely come much later than we previously thought,” it said.
Also weighing on metals was a two-week high for the dollar index. A stronger US currency makes dollar-priced metals more expensive for buyers using other currencies.
LME zinc rose 0.3% to $2,849.50 a ton, having climbed more than 8% in August as supply concerns helped it to register its best monthly gain since April.
Disappointing Chinese data, particularly from the construction sector, is likely to result in price declines for zinc in the next few weeks, said Sandeep Daga, a director at Metal Intelligence Centre. Zinc is largely used to galvanise steel.
Among other metals, LME aluminium lost 0.6% to $2,410.50 a ton, nickel fell 0.9% to $16,480, lead dipped 0.2% to $2,056 while tin shed 2% to $30,765 after touching its weakest in nearly four weeks.