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Copper retreats on concern over weak demand in China

Copper prices extended losses on Thursday, pushed by issue that the marketplace's surge to twoyear highs was based upon speculation while physical need remains weak in China.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange ( LME) shed 1.2% to $9,782 a metric heap in official open-outcry trading, moving far from the two-year high of $10,208 touched on Tuesday.

You may ask the concern whether we have leapt out of the starting block too soon, stated Ole Hansen, head of commodity method at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.

I'm going back into the neutral camp. I like the long-lasting view, however based upon actual, on-the-ground need, we could be at threat of consolidation or possibly even a correction.

Hansen pointed out weak signals from leading metals consumer China, such as the Yangshan copper premium << SMM-CUYP-CN >, which shows need for copper imported into China.

That premium dropped to no recently, from $42.50 a heap at the start of April, and was last priced estimate at $5.

On Tuesday data showed that development slowed in China's. manufacturing and services sectors in April, suggesting a loss. of momentum for the world's second-biggest economy.

China's copper producers are preparing to export as much as. 100,000 tons of the metal, the largest volume in 12 years, to. cool a current cost rally that hit order books, sources told. .

Hansen said a pull-back in prices might produce a snowball. effect, sparking a sell-off by funds.

The big question is whether we backtrack to levels where some. of the recent, quite aggressive, fund purchasers begin to get. worried, Hansen said.

LME aluminium dropped 1% to $2,552.50 a load.

Data showed that LME on-warrant inventories of aluminium in. LME-registered warehouses rebounded by 88,625 lots, which a. trader stated was linked to current UK and U.S. sanctions on. Russian metal.

Last month the LME transferred to stop traders from taking Russian. aluminium from its approved storage facilities and returning it at a. later date to profit from guideline modifications to adhere to the. sanctions.

In other metals, LME zinc dipped 0.2% in official. activity to $2,876 a lot and nickel slid 1.7% to $18,550. while lead included 0.4% to $2,188.50 and tin. climbed 1.6% to $31,100.

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(source: Reuters)