Copper Dips to $5,829.10 per Tonne Before China Meeting

On Tuesday, the copper price declined 1.03 percent on the LME to hit $5,829.10 per tonne; meanwhile, COMEX copper for May delivery declined 1.7 percent to reach $2.651 a pound.

Those price moves came as investors reacted to upcoming economic policy talks in China. The country is the world’s largest copper consumer, and Chinese economic performance is tied to demand for the metal.

A Chinese National People’s Congress meeting will begin on March 5. Investors expect Chinese officials to adjust annual economic performance estimates down to 7 percent from previous predictions of 7.4 percent. That and other announcements are likely to prompt volatility in the copper market. Ira Epstein, a broker with the Linn Group in Chicago, told The Wall Street Journal, “[e]veryone is still waiting on Thursday’s meeting in China and what they’re going to do.”