London copper prices fell on Thursday, as the dollar hovered near a three-month high, making the greenback-priced metal more expensive to holders of other currencies.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.6 percent to $8,855 a ton, while the most-traded April copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.6 percent to 69,390 yuan ($9,956.67) a ton, tracking overnight gains in London.
The dollar held near a three-month high on US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s message that interest rates would have to go higher and possibly faster to tame inflation.
Easing supply disruptions in major copper producing countries also pressured prices.
Panama’s government and Canada’s First Quantum Minerals agreed on the final text for a contract to operate the Cobre Panama mine, and Panamanian authorities allowed the company to resume concentrate loading operations.
Disruptions in Peru and Indonesia have also eased.
LME aluminum rose 0.1 percent to $2,355 a ton, zinc fell 0.3 percent to $2,965 a ton, lead eased 0.1 percent to $2,090 a ton and tin climbed 0.2 percent to $23,800 a ton.
SHFE aluminum increased 0.2 percent to 18,550 yuan a ton, nickel eased 0.2 percent to 187,410 yuan a ton, zinc dipped 0.2 percent to 23,225 yuan a ton, lead fell 0.1 percent to 15,170 yuan a ton, and tin shed 1.6 percent to 195,040 yuan a ton.
