Copper slips to two-week low as LME stock build intensifies
XLB•Other LME metals mostly weaker
The LME complex was broadly negative. Aluminium CMAL3 slipped 0.2% to $3,214.50 per ton, while zinc CMZN3 was down 0.6% to $3,669.50, also notching a two-week low after almost 10,000 tons of deliveries into LME warehouses in Asia.
Lead CMPB3 lost 0.3% to $1,880.50 and tin CMSN3 shed 0.5% to $54,550. Nickel CMNI3 was the sole gainer, adding 0.7% to $16,865.
Copper falls as LME inventories rise
Copper prices fell for a third day on Wednesday, touching a more than two-week low as a further buildup in London Metal Exchange inventories eased supply fears.
Benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 on the LME was down 0.7% at $13,880 a metric ton as of 0915 GMT. It earlier dipped as much as 0.9% to $13,856.50, the lowest since August 3.
U.S. warehouse activity and analyst view
More than half Tuesday's LME copper deliveries and reverse cancellations were in the U.S. storage hub of New Orleans.
"To me, this is just a transfer of metal from one exchange to another and drawing in some off-warrant," said Panmure Liberum analyst Tom Price. Off-warrant stock is metal in LME warehouses that is not tied to documents conferring ownership.
Copper stocks on the U.S. COMEX exchange HG-STX-COMEX continue to creep up, however, despite some small withdrawals, and stand at a record 670,273 metric tons.
"The fundamental reality is, (this copper) is not required in the U.S. - and traders need to make money," Price said.
LME stocks jump on inflows and reverse cancellations
LME stocks data on Wednesday showed a further 17,000 tons of copper inflows into LME warehouses on Tuesday, as well as 18,650 tons of reverse cancellations, where metal earmarked for removal from a warehouse was put back on warrant.
