Copper prices fell on Friday as the dollar strengthened ahead of key US employment data, which is expected to solidify the path for tighter monetary policy.
Good wage data will boost the dollar, undermining demand for commodities valued in currencies.
March copper contracts traded at $ 4.28 a pound ($ 9,435 a tonne) by noon on the Comex in New York, down 5% from last Friday.
“Copper and other non-ferrous metals are holding up well despite bearish news such as a new option, slower growth in China and a possible tightening by the Federal Reserve,” said Gianclaudio Torlizzi, partner at T-Commodity in Milan.
Low copper reserves
Copper stocks in LME-registered warehouses are 78,350 tonnes, which is about a third of the level recorded at the end of August.
According to the weekly data, in warehouses controlled by the Shanghai Futures Exchange, copper stocks fell 13.7% to 36,110 tons.
Limited copper supply
Mining company MMG said Friday that it will cease copper production at its Las Bambas mine in Peru by mid-December after failing to establish commercial relations with local civil society organizations.
The mine produced 400,000 tonnes of copper per year, which is about 2% of total world production.
Las Bambas, Peru's fourth largest copper mine and ninth in the world, has been grappling with periodic protests and road blockades since the production ramped up in 2015-16.
Cochilco, the Chilean state copper commission, reported Chilean Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, in October reduced production by 9.9% year-on-year to 144,100 tons.
