Copper held steady on Thursday, October 19, after in-line economic readings out of China signaled
some moderation in growth.
China’s economic growth looked set to accelerate for the first time in seven years this year, after hardly skipping a beat in the third quarter, but efforts to cut risks in property and debt are beginning to weigh on parts of the world’s second-largest economy.
“China’s data was in line with expectations, so it’s not surprising that markets haven’t reacted too much,” said Dan Hynes at ANZ in Sydney.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was barely changed at $6,995 a tonne by 0716
GMT. In the previous session, it closed a tad softer just below the $7,000 mark, having touched a three-year high on Monday.
Shanghai Futures Exchange copper ended down half a percent at 54,620 yuan ($8,249) a tonne. China’s industrial output rose 6.6 percent in September from a year ago, faster than expected, while fixed-asset investment expanded 7.5 percent in the first nine months of the year, missing forecasts, data showed on
Thursday.
Property sales in China dropped for the first time in more than 2-1/2 years in September, and housing starts
slowed sharply, reinforcing expectations that robust growth in the world’s second-largest economy is starting to cool.
Other metals were mixed. LME zinc and lead fell by more than 1 percent, reversing gains made on Wednesday.
LME nickel rallied 1 percent. In supportive news for nickel and copper, China’s electric vehicle (EV) production could touch 1 million units next year and 3 million units by 2020, said Xu Heyi,
chairman of carmaker BAIC Group, on Wednesday, likely exceeding a government-set target.
Chile state copper commission Cochilco forecast on Wednesday an average global copper price of $2.95
per pound in 2018, a sharp upward revision from its mid-year estimate of $2.68, due to greater demand in China.
