LONDON- Copper prices fell as surging COVID-19 levels and lockdowns in China hit demand and the dollar strengthened, making metals costlier for buyers with other currencies.
Measures by China, the biggest metals consumer, to support its economy and property sector did provide support, however.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.5 percent at $8,004 a ton.
Copper has fallen 25 percent from a high in March as growth in China and elsewhere slowed. Prices of the metal used in power and construction are down 1 percent this week after falling almost 5 percent the week before.
“The market is building a bottom,” said Gianclaudio Torlizzi at consultants T-Commodity, predicting copper would head towards $9,000.
He said investors were too negative on the outlook for copper consumption and inventories were so low that “you don’t need a big increase in demand to push prices up”.
But analysts at Citi said that “amid a return of lockdowns in China and broader weakness in global demand … we instead expect more durable price recoveries later in 2023”.
China’s central bank said it is cutting bank reserve requirements to free up liquidity and sources said it will offer cheap loans to financial firms for buying bonds issued by property developers.
