Prices of base metals rose on Thursday as traders assessed the prospects of further stimulus measures and stronger demand from China’s sprawling construction sector towards the end of the moonsoon season.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.1 percent at $7,696 a ton and the most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 0.4 percent to 62,770 yuan ($8,850.19) a ton.
China’s Shanghai city on Tuesday announced 1.8-trillion-yuan investment worth of infrastructure projects, echoing national policymakers’ calls to revive sluggish economic growth hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic, a property downturn, weak domestic demand, and a fading trade outlook.
The construction industry consumes a vast amount of metals.
LME tin increased 2 percent to $21,600 a ton, zinc was up 1.3 percent at $3,138 a ton, aluminum jumped 0.7 percent to $2,218 a ton and lead CMPB3 advanced 1 percent to $1,855 a ton.
ShFE zinc rose 1.3 percent to 24,970 yuan a ton, tin increased 2.7 percent to 185,770 yuan a ton, and aluminum advanced 0.6 percent to 18,690 yuan a ton.
The global refined copper market showed a 30,000-ton deficit in July, bringing the deficit level in the first seven months of the year to 126,000 tons, International Copper Study Group data showed. – Reuters
