HANOI- Copper prices fell on Wednesday, staying below a key level of $10,000 a metric ton, as weak physical demand in top consumer China weighed on the market after a recent red-hot rally.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.1 percent to $9,937.50 per metric ton, while the most-traded July copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped 2 percent to 80,440 yuan ($11,102.06) a ton.
Copper prices surged to record highs in late May, with LME copper hitting $11,104.50 and SHFE copper climbing to 88,940 yuan, partly due to funds betting on the metal’s use in the green energy sectors and a potential shortage.
However, the high and volatile futures prices prompted some physical copper users move to the sidelines and wait for the market to stabilize.
Copper stocks in warehouses tracked by SHFE were last at 321,695 tons, the highest since April 2020.
LME inventories of copper have also been trickling up, to 118,950 tons, the highest since April 24.
LME aluminum dropped 0.8 percent to $2,643 a ton, nickel fell 0.6 percent to $18,950, zinc shed 0.5 percent to $2,919.50, tin eased 0.2 percent to 3$31,880, while lead was almost unchanged at $2,242.50.
