METALS-Demand concerns push copper prices lower

By Polina Devitt

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Copper prices fell for the second session on Friday as softer demand from price-sensitive consumers such as China pushed the growth-dependent metal down from its recent highs sparked by the 90-day U.S.-China trade truce.

Benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 1.2% at $9,457.50 a metric ton by 1613 GMT.

The metal, used in power and construction, touched $9,664 on Wednesday, its highest since April 2, and is up 4% so far this month.

"Copper prices above $9,500 seem to again be encountering the same Chinese price sensitivity that has eventually and fundamentally reined in previous rallies over the last two years," JP Morgan said in a note this week.

This reaction can be seen in a sharp growth of copper inventories in top metals consumer China this week: warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange CU-STX-SGH reported a 34% jump in copper inventories to 108,142 tons on Friday, the first net weekly increase since mid-March.

The initial optimism about the 90-day pause agreed by Beijing and Washington on most of their retaliatory tariffs has faded with the market focus turning back to the health of the global economies.

"Chinese traders are happy about the 90-day pause, but the market has remained uncertain about what is going to happen after the 90 days," a Shanghai-based metals analyst said.

The Yangshan copper premium SMM-CUYP-CN, a gauge of China's appetite to import copper, fell 8% this week to $95 a ton from $103, its highest since December 2023.

Copper stocks in LME-registered warehouses MCUSTX-TOTAL, meanwhile, have dropped 34% to 179,375 tons since mid-February and are at their lowest since June last year. Cancelled warrants - metal earmarked for delivery - represent 40% of the total.

Falling inventories have fuelled worries about copper supplies on the LME market and have kept the spread between the cash contract and the three-month forward CMCU0-3 at a premium in May.

Ahead of the expiry of contracts next week, this premium hit $40 a ton on Thursday before narrowing to $31.5 on Friday.

Aluminium CMAL3 slipped 0.4% to $2,477.50 per ton, zinc CMZN3 fell 1.2% to $2,691.50, lead CMPB3 eased 0.3% to $1,999.50, tin CMSN3 was down 0.6% at $32,775 and nickel CMNI3 dropped 1.3% to $15,575.

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