BEIJING- London copper prices slipped from a near four-month high on Monday as the US dollar strengthened but supply worries amid production disruption in the Cobre mine in Panama capped further losses.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.4 percent to $8,579.50 per metric ton. The contract hit $8,640 per last Friday, its highest since Aug. 4.
The dollar index bounced on Monday, as geopolitical tension in the Middle East returned to focus and investor caution against a key employment report later this week.
A stronger dollar makes it more expensive to buy the greenback-priced commodity.
But supply-side disruptions in the Cobre mine in Panama owned by First Quantum Minerals triggered worries in a market recording falling inventories.
First Quantum has suspended its current-year production outlook for the Cobre mine and has initiated international arbitration over a contested contract with the country’s government, the miner said on Friday.
Amid the supply uncertainty, global miners reached agreements with Chinese smelters for a lower copper concentrate treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for 2024, the first drop in three year.
The most-traded January copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.8 percent to 68,880 yuan ($9,658.15)per ton. – Reuters
