That followed data this week showing that US factory activity slowed in April while growth in China's manufacturing sector slowed more than expected. A report on Thursday showed that new orders for goods manufactured in the United States rose for a fourth month in March, but by less than expected. "We're seeing weaker manufacturing data this week, especially in China and the US, which is affecting base metals negatively, and I sense the market is starting to lose patience with the lack of progress on (US President) Trump's infrastructure spending plans," Danske Bank analyst Jens Pedersen said.
"Producers have been caught off guard by this slowdown in the industrial cycle, and therefore are having to place (metal) in inventories." LME copper closed 1 percent down at $5,543 a tonne, having touched $5,494, its lowest since January 4. Prices registered their biggest one-day drop since September 2015 in the previous session, falling 3.5 percent.
A break of support at $5,563 a tonne in LME copper prices could trigger a loss into the range of $5,433-$5,508, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said on Thursday. LME copper stocks surged by 31,250 tonnes, data showed on Wednesday, while tin stocks fell by a further 35 tonnes to their lowest since 1989. Tin ended the day down 0.2 percent at $19,850 a tonne. The Philippine government will move forward with a second review of the country's mines despite the removal of Regina Lopez as environment minister, a finance official said on Thursday. Lopez will no longer be in a position to suspend about 8 percent of global nickel supply, Goldman Sachs said in a note.
LME nickel closed 2.3 percent down at $9,015 a tonne, off an earlier 10-month low of $8,970. Mining and trading group Glencore has hired the Bank of Nova Scotia to sell a portfolio of royalty assets, including one for the Antamina copper-zinc mine in Peru, four people familiar with the process told Reuters.
One company was holding more than 90 percent of lead warrants and cash contracts. Cancelled warrants, or material earmarked for delivery and unavailable to the market, made up nearly half of total inventories. LME lead finished 0.5 percent lower at $2,190 a tonne, while zinc closed 0.2 percent down at $2,569. Aluminium ended with a 0.6 percent decline at $1,913.
Copyright Reuters, 2017