Copper eyes biggest weekly loss since April on China growth woes

LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) – Copper hit a one-week low on Friday while the dollar retained its strength, leaving the market set for its biggest weekly drop since April on concerns over slowing growth in top metals buyer China and looming U.S. trade tariffs against the country. U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to impose “pretty significant” tariffs, a U.S. official said, and will unveil a list targeting $50 billion of Chinese goods on Friday. Beijing has warned that it was ready to respond. While it is not clear when Trump will activate the measures, rising Sino-U.S. trade tensions will put additional pressure on China’s economy, which is starting to show signs of cooling under the weight of a multi-year crackdown on riskier lending. “Now is not the time for the (copper) market to rally,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank. “The growth story is running into problems (with) recent weak data from the U.S., Europe and China. (Also) the dollar (is) moving higher (and) emerging market currencies (are) weaker, that’s raising concerns about growth going forward.” The dollar index hit a seven-month high earlier, getting a boost as the euro sagged after a cautious European Central Bank signalled it will keep interest rates at record lows well into next year. COPPER PRICES: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.5 percent at $7,140 a tonne at 0957 GMT, having hit a one-week low of $7,118.50. The industrial metal has slipped from a 4-1/2 year high hit last week on supply concerns at the world’s biggest copper mine. CHINESE GROWTH: China reported weaker-than-expected industrial output, investment and retail sales for May, suggesting further weakness ahead if Beijing sustains its crackdown on factory pollution and local government spending. CHINA METALS OUTPUT: China’s output of 10 non-ferrous metals including copper, aluminium, lead, zinc and nickel rose 4.3 percent in May from a year earlier to 4.55 million tonnes. Aluminium production was up 1.5 percent at 2.79 million tonnes. CHINA COPPER STOCKS: Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.2 percent from last Friday. CHINA ZINC, LEAD STOCKS: Zinc inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 7.6 percent from last Friday and lead gained 6 percent.