SINGAPORE, July 17 (Reuters) - London copper futures bounced
back on Tuesday underpinned by low inventories and technical
support, but concerns of slowing growth in top metals consumer
China limited gains.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was
up 0.4 percent at $6,216 a tonne as of 0706 GMT and the
most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange
finished down 0.4 percent to 48,810 yuan ($7,307.21) a
tonne.
INVENTORIES: Headline stocks of copper in LME-registered
warehouses gained 1,525 tonnes to 257,200 tonnes, but were still
at their lowest since January. MCUSTX-TOTAL
SUPPLIES: There was additional support for the copper market
stemming from expectations of output disruption.
ESCONDIDA: "Copper held up relatively well, as the
possibility of supply disruption in Chile was back in the
headlines," ANZ said in a note. "Workers at BHP's Escondida
copper mine rejected the company's first formal wage offer. The
two parties are expected to head back to the negotiating table
later this week."
TECHNICALS: LME copper is poised to break a resistance at
$6,260 per tonne and rise more towards $6,370, as suggested by
its wave pattern and a retracement analysis, according to Wang
Tao, Reuters analyst for commodities and energy technicals.
GROWTH: China's economy expanded at a slower pace in the
second quarter as Beijing's efforts to contain debt hurt
activity, while June factory output growth weakened to a
two-year low in a worrying sign for investment and exporters as
a trade war with the United States intensified.
TRADE WAR: China's commerce ministry said on Monday it had
filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO)
regarding Washington's proposed tariff list on $200 billion
worth of Chinese goods on July 16.
INVESTORS: Copper speculators switched to a net short
position of 12,919 contracts, the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission said last week, the weakest position since December
2016.
ALUMINIUM SUPPLY: China's aluminium producers are responding
to tighter supply conditions by boosting output, data showed.
China's June output rose by 0.8 percent to 2.83 million tonnes,
which on a daily basis was the highest since June 2017,
according to Reuters' calculations based on official data.
ZINC: Shanghai zinc futures finished down 2.5
percent and lead dived 2.1 percent on worries over
Washington-Beijing trade war curbing demand.
