Aluminium hits 20-month peak

30 January 2017

Copper hit its highest in nearly seven weeks, but some analysts were wary of demand weakness and said the market is vulnerable to a correction.

Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange closed with a 1 per cent gain at $US1,867 a tonne, having earlier touched $US1,883, its strongest since May 2015.

Traders cited a Bloomberg story saying that China is drawing up plans that would halt about 3.3 million tonnes of operational aluminium capacity during the winter to combat air pollution.

China’s top environment watchdog delivered verbal warnings in December to Chalco, the nation’s top aluminium producer, for failing to deal with pollution appropriately, state news agency Xinhua had reported.

Also supporting base metals was a weaker US dollar, making commodities priced in the greenback cheaper for buyers using other currencies. The dollar index slipped after data showed that US home resales declined by more than expected in December to a 17-year low.

LME zinc finished 1.3 per cent higher at $US2,827 a tonne, having earlier touched $US2,829.50, its highest since December 15.

Copper, meanwhile, climbed 2.6 per cent to end at $US5,943, its highest since December 7.

“Copper and zinc prices are artificially higher,” said Gianclaudio Torlizzi, partner at consultancy T-Commodity in Milan, citing interest from funds.

“But demand is weak, the physical market is not chasing these gains, they’re waiting for lower prices. The market is at serious risk of a correction lower.”

Signals of lacklustre copper demand came on Monday when the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said that the global world refined copper market flipped to a 48,000 tonnes surplus in October from a 18,000 tonnes deficit a month earlier.

“We believe that there are many signs that the global copper market was no longer undersupplied in 2016 – for the first time in seven years. We therefore see no justification for the steep rise in the copper price since the end of October,” Commerzbank analysts said in a note.

“We believe that the potential for it to correct is growing from week to week.”

The Lunar New Year holiday in China, starting January 27, is also expected to subdue metals demand as Chinese factories close, sometimes for two to three weeks.

Lead closed 1.5 per cent up at $US2,392, the highest since December 13. Nickel added 0.8 per cent to $US9,790 and tin was up 1.4 per cent at $US20,400.

Source – News.com