BEIJING, July 6 (Reuters) - London copper fell for a fifth
straight session on Friday and hit a fresh 11-month low as U.S.
tariffs on Chinese goods kicked in, escalating the trade spat
between the world's top two economies.
Copper, seen as a bellwether for economic health, is down
5.5 percent in London this week, putting it on track for its
steepest weekly drop since the week ended Jan. 16, 2015.
The United States imposed tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese
imports at 0401 GMT. Beijing has promised to retaliate in kind.
The U.S.-China trade dispute "looks like becoming
entrenched" and "comes at a time when copper demand suffers its
seasonal slowdown," ANZ wrote in a note.
"However, we feel the market is oversold. Supply disruptions
remain a threat, and shifts in China's consumption patterns will
see demand for refined copper remain strong," it said.
"If trade tension subsides, we would expect copper prices to
recovery strongly" in the second half of 2018, ANZ said.
FUNDAMENTALS
* LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal
Exchange fell as much as 2 percent to $6,221.50 a tonne,
its lowest since July 25, 2017. It has declined in nine of the
past 10 sessions.
* SHFE COPPER: The most-traded August copper contract on the
Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped as much as 2.2
percent to 48,520 yuan ($7,296.02) a tonne, the lowest since
July 17, 2017. It is down 5.2 percent for the week, which would
be the worst since January 2015.
* ESCONDIDA: Negotiations between workers and BHP Billiton
Plc, at the Escondida copper mine in Chile, the
world's largest, are "far from reaching agreement" with less
than three weeks to go before the negotiation deadline, a union
official told Reuters on Thursday.
* ZINC: Shanghai zinc fell as much as 1.1 percent,
while London zinc declined as much as 0.9 percent amid
rising supply. London zinc is down around 5.5 percent this week,
the most since December 2016.
* ALUMINIUM: Shanghai aluminium was up 0.3 percent
as Chinese alumina refiners cut production, while London
aluminium was down 0.1 percent.
