China smelter group agrees to lower Q1 copper charges
The charges tend to fall when ore supply declines and rise when more concentrate is available.
The copper price fell on Monday amid fading momentum in top consumer China.
Profits at China’s industrial firms slumped in the first four months of 2023, official data showed on Saturday, as companies continued to struggle with margin pressures and soft demand amid a faltering economic recovery.
An agreement over the weekend to suspend the US government’s debt ceiling helped improve market sentiment, but the metal was still trading low on Monday after it declined for a sixth straight week on Friday.
Copper for delivery in July was down 0.15% on the Comex market in New York, touching $3.67 per pound ($8,047 per tonne).
Click here for an interactive chart of copper prices
US President Joe Biden and congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy forged an agreement on Saturday to avert an economically destabilizing default to suspend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling until 2025.
The deal will now have to pass through the narrowly divided Congress and, if approved, will prevent the US government from defaulting on its debt.
Market worries have eased following the agreement, Jinrui Futures said in a note.
But the recovery pace of the economy in China, the top consumer of metals, is gradually slowing, and overall macro sentiment is bearish, limiting support for copper, it added.
(With files from Reuters and Bloomberg)
Read more: Hedge funds bet against copper for first time in three years
