METALS-Copper climbs on Powell comments; supply headwinds help

Recasts, adds comments, updates prices

BEIJING, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Copper prices rose on Wednesday, lifted by better sentiment as investors saw comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as less hawkish, while ongoing supply disruptions kept supporting the metal.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 was up 0.7% at $8,989 a tonne by 0426 GMT. The most-traded March copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 gained 0.6% at 68,430 yuan ($10,095.75) a tonne.

The dollar eased on Wednesday after Powell failed to offer fresh signs of a hawkish push-back against a resilient labour market in the United States, leading investors to bet that interest rates may not rise much further.

A weaker dollar makes it more attractive for non-dollar holders to buy greenback-priced copper.

Supply-side issues, including First Quantum Minerals’ suspension of loading operations at a major port in Panama, also aided the sentiment.

“This might support spot prices, but its actual impact on supply tightness remains to be seen as several smelters will start maintenance in March,” a Chinese copper smelter said.

Chile, the world’s top copper producer, saw exports of the red metal reach $2.98 billion in January, down 21.6% from a year earlier, the central bank said on Tuesday.

Glencore’s GLEN.L Antapaccay copper mine in Peru has resumed normal operations after closing for 11 days due to attacks by protesters in the South American nation.

LME aluminium CMAL3 was up 0.6% to $2,540 a tonne, zinc CMZN3 rose 1.4% to $3,181 a tonne, lead CMPB3 climbed 0.9% to $2,116.50 a tonne, tin CMSN3 advanced 2.9% to $27,850 a tonne.

SHFE nickel SNIcv1 gained 0.9% to 211,530 yuan a tonne, zinc SZNcv1 added 0.4% to 23,485 yuan a tonne, tin SSNcv1 rose 2.8% to 221,970 yuan a tonne, aluminium SAFcv1 nudged 0.6% up to 19,165 yuan a tonne, lead SPBcv1was up 0.4% at 15,280 yuan a tonne

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($1 = 6.7781 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Siyi Liu and Dominique Patton; editing by Uttaresh.V, Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

((Siyi.Liu@thomsonreuters.com;))

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