Copper eases on stronger dollar, recovering Peru production

Reuters - London copper slipped on Wednesday from a 26-month high hit in the previous session, as the dollar strengthened and output recovered in the world’s second-largest producer of Peru.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.5% to $6,656 a tonne by 0202 GMT, after rising to its highest since June 2018 in the previous session.

The most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.4% to 51,740 yuan ($7,571.52) a tonne.

The dollar bounced off two-year lows as U.S. data pointed to a firm manufacturing activity, making greenback-traded metals more expensive to buyers using other currencies.

A Peruvian government officer said copper mining in the country had almost completely recovered from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Production, which plunged 20.4% in the first half of 2020, fell only 2.2% year-on-year in July.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Trading firm Traxys has won a tender to sell cobalt metal for Wheaton Precious Metals, two sources familiar with the matter said, in a deal that propels it into the big league to rival the likes of Glencore in the valuable commodity.

* LME aluminium fell 0.4% to $1,810 a tonne and zinc declined 0.7% to $2,535 a tonne, while ShFE aluminium decreased 1.2% to 14,400 yuan a tonne.