China fears send copper price below $8,000

Market focus has turned to the People's Bank of China, which could cut the rate on its medium-term lending facility on Wednesday.

Lead premiums in China's bonded warehouses have been around $130 a tonne since 2020.

Metal price fell as a stronger US dollar and renewed worries over demand due to partial lockdowns in China weighed on sentiment.

"Fresh lockdowns and mass testing in Beijing, Shanghai, and now Inner Mongolia is the realization of the ferrous market's worst fears," said Atilla Widnell, managing director at Navigate Commodities.

The company plans to price the share sale on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter.

"China remains a big source of uncertainty for global growth," JP Morgan analysts said in a note.

Shanghai will lock down millions of people for mass covid-19 testing this weekend.

China’s efforts to subdue the price of its mainstay fuel are just one facet of a wider struggle across the world to contain energy inflation.

Battery supply chain firm Benchmark lays out five reasons why the lithium market is not facing oversupply.