Prices of copper and other metals fall due to fear of the spread of the omicron variant

The copper prices and other industrial metals were down on Monday, fearing that the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus would complicate the global economic recovery.

The variant has so far been recorded in at least 89 countries, although the severity of the disease it causes remains unclear. The Netherlands imposed restrictions to curb its spread, raising concerns that other countries will follow suit and slow down economic activity.

Copper, widely used in infrastructure, is considered an indicator of global economic health. At 12:12 GMT, benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 0.42% at $ 9,398 a tonne.

“There is growing concern about the increase in cases of the omicron variant, especially in Europe”Said Wenyu Yao, an analyst at ING, adding that more closures could hurt demand for metals.

In other base metals, aluminum on the LME was down 1.7% at US $ 2,676 per ton; zinc was down 1.1% at US $ 3,349; lead was down 0.4% from $ 2,299; tin was up 0.1% to $ 38,360; and nickel was down 1.9% at $ 19,286.

With information from Reuters.