RTRS:METALS-Copper pulls back after 5-day rally as China woes weigh
* Strong EU, US data not enough to offset China weakness
* Copper hit one-month high at $7,119 on Weds
* Coming up: U.S. durable goods orders at 1230 GMT
By Silvia Antonioli and Manolo Serapio Jr
LONDON/SINGAPORE, July 25 (Reuters) - Copper fell back on Thursday after a
five-day run-up that lifted prices to a one-month high, under pressure from
concerns that a slowing Chinese economy may dent demand from the world's top
consumer amid ample global supplies.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had eased almost one
percent to $6,990 a tonne by 0910 GMT, after earlier falling as low as $6,979.
Copper, used in construction, is down almost 12 percent this year on weaker
Chinese growth.
Data on Wednesday showed manufacturing activity in China at an 11-month low
in July, pointing to more challenges for the country where year-on-year economic
growth has fallen in nine of the last 10 quarters.
"We think that China is going to continue to be under a bit of pressure and
that could weigh on the base metals market a bit more," said Natalie Rampono,
commodity strategist at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.
Better than expected industrial growth data in the European Union and
housing data from the United States only partially offset concerns about the
slowdown in China, which accounts for 40 percent of global demand for refined
copper.
THE WEIGHT OF ADDITIONAL TONNES
A projected surplus would also keep prices under pressure, Rampono said.
A Reuters poll released on Monday showed analysts forecasting a bigger
global copper surplus of 153,000 tonnes in 2013, compared to 98,500 in the
previous poll. The number is seen widening to 368,500 next year.
"Industrial metals are caught between a rock and a hard place. If you look
at fundamentals we see supply additions everywhere and relatively high inventory
levels," Credit Suisse analyst Tobias Merath said.
"The physical market remains relatively tight with premiums still elevated
across the board so that is somewhat limiting the downside. But if anything we
would say that fundamentals have a bit of a negative bias given growth slowdown
in China."
Investment bank Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday its "least preferred
commodities" in the next 12-month period were copper and iron ore, raw materials
of which China is the biggest consumer.
Metal Prices at 0918 GMT
Comex copper in cents/lb, LME prices in $/T and SHFE prices in yuan/T
Metal Last Change Pct Move End 2012 Ytd Pct
move
COMEX Cu 3.18 0.00 -0.06 365.25 -99.13
LME Alum 1835.25 -15.75 -0.85 2073.00 -11.47
LME Cu 6984.25 -70.75 -1.00 7931.00 -11.94
LME Lead 2057.75 -7.25 -0.35 2330.00 -11.68
LME Nickel 14237.00 -123.00 -0.86 17060.00 -16.55
LME Tin 19426.00 -79.00 -0.41 23400.00 -16.98
LME Zinc 1878.75 -6.25 -0.33 2080.00 -9.68
SHFE Alu 14400.00 25.00 +0.17 15435.00 -6.71
SHFE Cu* 50660.00 70.00 +0.14 57690.00 -12.19
SHFE Zin 14690.00 65.00 +0.44 15625.00 -5.98
** Benchmark month for COMEX copper
* 3rd contract month for SHFE AL, CU and ZN
SHFE ZN began trading on 26/3/07
