Most industrial metals fall on China’s modest growth target

March 6 (Reuters) – Most base metal prices fell on Monday after China, the world’s largest consumer, set a lower-than-expected economic growth target, dashing some hopes of a robust recovery in demand.

* As of 09:05 GMT, three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down 1% at $8,897 a tonne, while the most traded April copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE ) fell 0.1% to 69,310 yuan ($10,011.70). ) a ton.

* China has set itself a modest growth target of around 5%, the lower bound of expectations which had climbed to 6%, and also below last year’s target of around 5, 5%.

* “Target (…) is broadly neutral,” Jinrui Futures said in a note. Consumption of the metal in China also continues to be limited in the short term due to high prices.

* Signs of relief from supply disruptions in Panama, where Canada’s First Quantum Minerals has been locked in a protracted contract dispute with the government over its Cobre Panama mine, also weighed on copper prices.

* In Peru, Andean communities will resume blocking a crucial highway used by major copper producers next week, two local leaders said on Saturday, following a truce that allowed mining companies to resume production .

* In other base metals, LME aluminum fell 1.3% to $2,373.50 a tonne; zinc fell 1.5% to $3,032.50; Tin fell 1% to $24,500; and lead rose 0.7% to $2,134.

* For its part, aluminum in the SHFE fell 0.4% to 18,590 yuan per ton; tin subtracted 0.2% to 199,650 yuan; nickel rose 1.1% to 188,620 yuan; and the lead improved 0.1% to 15,285 yuan.

(1 dollar = 6.9229 yuan)

(Reporting by Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Spanish edition by Carlos Serrano)