Copper price down as China premium falls to 5-year low
Image from Codelco.
Copper prices dipped on Wednesday, hit by signs of weakening demand in top consumer China, while a firmer dollar made greenback-priced metals more expensive to holders of other currencies.
Copper for delivery in July was down 1% to $4.615 ($10,153 per tonne) on Wednesday afternoon on the Comex market in New York.
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Yangshan copper premium fell to $30.50 a tonne, its lowest since February 2016, indicating weakening demand for imported metal into China as high copper prices deter downstream consumption.
The dollar clung to small gains from overnight as a pick-up in US manufacturing kept bets alive for a quicker normalization of Federal Reserve policy.