US-China trade dispute hits copper prices

Copper dipped for a second session yesterday as an intensifying trade war between Washington and Beijing raised concerns over demand for industrial metals in top consumer China. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.1% at US$5 906 a tonne, as of 0419 GMT. "The trade dispute is not going to disappear. The market still does not fully understand this and has not completely priced this in," said Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg, adding that he expects to see larger losses. "If a large proportion of Chinese exports to the US are subject to penalties, there will be a massive impact on trade flows and it will probably change companies' investment plans," he said. Copper cathodes were Namibia’s top export product in the first quarter of 2018 and earned nearly N$5.26 billion in foreign exchange. It represented nearly 28% of total exports. Photo Nampa/Reuters