Copper prices in London fell on Thursday on the strength of the dollar after minutes of the Federal Reserve / FED meeting noted that US interest rates could rise faster than expected because of concerns about persistent inflation.
While the strength of the dollar makes dollar-denominated metals more expensive for holders of other currencies, raising interest rates prematurely could reduce liquidity in financial markets and slow the recovery of the world's largest economy.
Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 0.93% to US $9607 a tonne at 14PUR 47 Beijing time.
The main copper contract for February delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.02% to 69530 yuan per ton.
A "very tight" job market and stubbornly high inflation could require the Fed to raise interest rates earlier than expected and start reducing its overall asset holdings as the economy's second brake.
Fed officials are unanimously concerned about the continuing pace of price increases and global supply bottlenecks "for a long time" in 2022, according to the minutes of the Fed's December 14-15 policy meeting released on Wednesday.
The Fed's hawkish signal helped boost the dollar index, which hovered near a five-year high against the yen.
Other industrial metals, LME aluminum for three-month delivery fell 0.58 per cent to US $2905 per tonne; nickel for three-month delivery fell 1.28 per cent to US $20373 per tonne; lead for three-month delivery fell 0.02 per cent to US $2287 per tonne; zinc for three-month delivery fell 0.89 per cent to US $3556 per tonne; and tin for three-month delivery rose 0.17 per cent to US $39360 per tonne.
Shanghai aluminum futures rose 2.12% to 20715 yuan per ton, Shanghai nickel futures fell 2.14% to 150180 yuan per ton, Shanghai zinc futures rose 0.27 percent to 24440 yuan per ton, Shanghai tin futures rose 0.18 percent to 295660 yuan per ton, and lead in Shanghai futures fell 1.05 percent to 15110 yuan per ton.
Australian diversified miner South32 Ltd said on Thursday that it would spend about $7 million to restart its Alumar aluminum smelter, a joint venture with Alcoa in Brazil.
Asian stock markets fell on Thursday, extending the global decline. Earlier minutes of the Fed meeting pointed out that US interest rates may rise faster than expected because of concerns about persistent inflation.
