(Updates with EMEA morning hours)
By Ashitha Shivaprasad
April 30 (Reuters) - Copper prices fell over 2% on
Wednesday, heading towards their worst month since November amid
weak data from top metals consumer China and lingering trade
uncertainty.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME)
fell 2.2% to $9,231 a metric ton by 1045 GMT, its lowest level
since April 17. Prices fell 5% in April.
The Comex copper contract was down 4.3% to $4.63 per
lb, lowest since April 17.
Data on Wednesday showed that China's factory activity
contracted at the fastest pace in 16 months in April, keeping
alive calls for further stimulus.
"Copper is currently being held back by macroeconomic
uncertainty," said SP Angel analyst John Meyer.
"While Trump tariffs threaten to create a mini-recession in
the West, we feel that new stimulus in China and much of Asia
will continue to keep manufacturers going and drive growth."
Weighing on financial markets was a lack of progress in
de-escalating the U.S.-China trade conflict.
Despite claims from U.S. officials that talks are ongoing,
China has denied any active discussions. U.S. Treasury Secretary
Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that over time, it will be evident
to Beijing that Chinese tariffs are not sustainable for the
world's second-largest economy.
Data due to be released on Wednesday is likely to show that
the U.S. economy likely stalled or even contracted in the first
quarter.
The dollar index edged up, making dollar-priced
metals costlier for buyers using other currencies.
Keeping a floor under copper prices were another huge drop
in inventories in warehouses monitored by the
Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), which dropped 23.5% from last
Friday to 89,307 tons, their lowest since January 17. Last week,
they slid 32%.
The reduction in stocks has been driven by diverted copper
to the U.S. amid tariff threats on U.S. imports, as well as
tight scrap supplies.
"The shortage of scrap into China is a major issue with a
huge copper concentrate deficit causing Chinese smelters to
reduce capacity," said Meyer.
Aluminium fell 1% to $2,442 a ton, zinc lost
0.5% to $2,635.5, lead eased 0.7% to $1,963.5, tin
rose 0.4% to $32,015 and nickel rose 0.3% at
$15,595. All the metals were headed for monthly declines.