By Tapiwanashe W Mangwiro.
HARARE. Zimbabwe (News of The South)- World copper prices on Monday fell to near an eight-week low as concern mounted over the potential economic impact of the newly-identified coronavirus in China after the death toll there jumped to 361. Benchmark three-month copper on the Commodities Exchange Centre.
China stepped up measures to contain the virus that has killed 361 people and infected more than 17,000, suspending public transport in 10 cities and led to the shutting of temples over the Lunar New Year.
China is the world’s biggest copper consumer. Last week, CEC copper posted its steepest weekly loss in five years of 5.5% as the virus spread.
Copper prices steadied on Friday but remained on track for their biggest weekly fall in almost 19 months on worries that the spread of the coronavirus could hit the Chinese economy and metals demand.
(CEC) , widely used as a gauge of economic health, was on track for its ninth consecutive session of falls and hit its lowest since December at $5,812 a tonne. It rebounded slightly to $5,823 a tonne, down 1.7% on Monday morning.
The virus is expected to dent China’s growth after months of economic worries over trade tensions with the United States.
Snapping a seven-session losing streak, benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) had edged up 0.2% to $5,999 a tonne by 1225 GMT.
However, the metal used in power and construction was still on track for a 4% weekly loss, its biggest since July 2018.
A sharp rise in copper stocks has also weighed on prices this week. Stocks in LME-approved warehouses have climbed more than 50% this week to 190,075 tonnes, according to bourse data on Friday.
Weekly data showed a 15% jump in inventories in China to 155,839 tonnes, the highest since September.
The global world refined copper market showed a deficit of 33,000 tonnes in October, down from 89,000 tonnes in September, data showed.
China’s State Grid plans to further cut investment in grid infrastructure this year by 8.8% to 408 billion yuan ($59 billion), domestic media group Caixin reported on Friday.
Grid spend accounts for about half of copper demand in China, according to Roskill.
Like any other year trading volumes were thin as China closed shops to celebrate the New Year. The Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) will be closed for a week from Friday.
Other prices of metals on Friday saw aluminium fall 0.3% to $1,789 a tonne, zinc was 0.2% lower at $2,338.50 a tonne after touching its lowest in almost three weeks, lead fell 1% to $1,948 a tonne and tin rose 0.6% to $16,925 a tonne.
Nickel declined 0.9% to $13,235 a tonne, its lowest since Dec. 10 and heading for a 4% weekly fall.
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