Copper and aluminum prices dropped on Monday, as tightening COVID-19 restrictions in top metals consumer China stoked worries about demand, with a stronger dollar further weighing on the market.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.6 percent at $9,354 a ton, after falling to its lowest since Dec. 15 in early Asian trade.
LME aluminum slipped 0.6 percent to $2,826 a ton, its lowest since Jan. 5.
The most-active June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 0.5 percent at 71,840 yuan ($10,710.72) by the noon break, after dropping to its lowest since March 16.
“No definitive light at the end of the China lockdown tunnel,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
“With more ominous aggressive US rate hike clouds looming on the horizon, inflation beneficiaries like hard commodities are getting pressured lower.”
Shanghai and Beijing, wrestling with their worst COVID-19 outbreaks since the epidemic began, further tightened curbs on their residents this week, blocking them from leaving their homes and compounds, sparking new anger and confusion.
Concerns over tightening lockdowns in world’s second-largest economy hurting global economic growth also dented appetite for risky assets among investors.
China’s copper imports in April fell 4 percent from the same month a year earlier as demand slumped, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday.
