Prices of copper, often used as a gauge of global economic health, advanced on Monday on hopes of stronger demand for metals and amid a sustained U.S. economic recovery after data showed an acceleration in hiring in the world’s biggest economy.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.5% at $9,427.50 a tonne, as of 0528 GMT, and the most-traded August copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 0.8% to 68,880 yuan ($10,659.24) a tonne.
U.S. companies in June hired the most workers in 10 months, raising wages and offering incentives to entice millions of unemployed Americans sitting at home, in a tentative sign that a labour shortage hanging over the economy was starting to ease.
“Wage growth tends to lead to strong demand for durable goods, a key sector for the metals markets,” said ANZ analysts in a note.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Global copper smelting activity slipped in June after a rebound a month earlier as Chinese plants closed for maintenance while production of nickel pig iron jumped, data from satellite surveillance of copper plants showed.
* Chilean miner Antofagasta PLC signed contracts to supply Chinese copper smelters with copper concentrate at treatment charges of around the mid-$50s per tonne in deals covering at least half of next year, sources said.
* ShFE aluminium rose 2.9% to 19,235 yuan a tonne, nickel advanced 1.9% to 137,270 yuan a tonne and tin increased 2.4% to 216,600 yuan a tonne.
* ShFE aluminium inventories in ShFE warehouses fell to 278,383 tonnes, their lowest since Feb. 10, while copper stocks declined to their lowest since Feb. 19 at 142,520 tonnes.
* Meanwhile, copper stocks in bonded warehouses in China rose to their highest since July 2019 at 435,600 tonnes, SMM data showed.
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$1 = 6.4620 yuan
Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel and Sherry Jacob-Phillips
Source: Reuters