US-China trade war uncertainty affects copper

Copper prices declined Monday, responding to doubts that a deal can be reached soon in the U.S.-China trade war.

A Reuters article dated Nov. 18 cites a CNBC report stating that Beijing was pessimistic about agreeing to a trade deal because President Trump remained reluctant to roll back some tariffs he has imposed on Chinese goods entering the U.S.            

London-based Capital Economics analyst Keiran Clancy said, "We are still probably a long way off from a comprehensive trade deal and, irrespective of that, global growth is going to remain muted for the rest of the year and keep a lid on metals prices."

Reuters reports that benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) ended trading Monday 0.3 percent lower at $5,830 per metric ton. Today’s decline follows a decline of 1.3 percent last week, the news outlet says.

China's October refined copper output grew 17.9 percent compared with October 2018 to 868,000 metric tons, which Reuters describes as a “record high.” The country’s production of lead, zinc and alumina also increased.

The decline in copper pricing follows initial reports that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He had a phone call Saturday morning with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer regarding a “phase-one” trade deal, according to Chinese state media outlet Xinhua.