Shanghai aluminium touched its lowest in 41 months, tracking a broader fall in prices of metals, on fears of a severe hit to the global economy as the coronavirus outbreak spread rapidly outside China.
The most active aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) dropped as much as 0.8 per cent to 13,020 yuan ($1,872.14) a tonne, its lowest since Sept. 21, 2016. The contract ended at 13,085 yuan ($1,883.68) a tonne, down 0.3 per cent.
Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange (LME) declined 0.5 per cent to $1,711 a tonne by 0719 GMT.
Prices of most other industrial metals, which closely track the health of the global economy due to their vast use in many industries, also fell as the virus death toll and infection cases rose in Europe and the United States.
LME copper fell 0.4 per cent to $5,653 a tonne, nickel declined 0.7 per cent to $12,795 a tonne, zinc eased 0.2 per cent to $2,007 a tonne and lead slipped 0.3 per cent to $1,830 a tonne.
ShFE copper fell 0.9 per cent to 44,740 yuan a tonne, nickel edged down 0.12 per cent to 102,570 yuan a tonne, zinc rose 0.2 per cent to 15,970 yuan a tonne, while lead increased 0.6 per cent to 14,480 yuan a tonne.
FUNDAMENTALS
ALUMINIUM STOCKS: Aluminium inventories in warehouses tracked by the ShFE <AL-STX-SGH> climbed to their highest in eight-and-a-half months at 439,087 tonnes by the end of last week, latest data showed, as weak downstream demand pushed producers to stockpile.
VIRUS TOLL: The death toll in Italy has risen to 148, with the contagion in Europe’s worst-hit country showing no sign of slowing, while deaths in the United States rose to 12 and 53 new cases were confirmed.
US: President Donald Trump said the US economy might take a hit from the outbreak but predicted the challenge would eventually pass.
CHINA: The virus likely halved China’s growth in the first quarter compared to the previous three months, more severe than thought just three weeks ago and triggering expectations for earlier interest rate cuts, a Reuters poll showed.
WUHAN: Wuhan, the epicentre of China’s coronavirus epidemic, will likely see new infections drop to zero by the end of this month, an expert with the country’s top panel on battling the illness said on Thursday.