Copper, used in power and construction, hit a seven-month high in January after China removed its strict COVID-19 curbs, but prices of the metal have since retreated as Chinese demand failed to surge as much as expected. "The uncertainty surrounding the extent of the recovery in China, which is the most important market for this metal, will remain the biggest factor weighing on the copper price ... in the short term," Commerzbank said in a note. China's March refined copper output jumped 9% to a record high of 1.05 million tonnes. LME zinc fell 1.6% to $2,725, after hitting $2,713, a fresh low since Nov. 4, as LME inventories built up and Shanghai stocks declined this week. The discount or contango for the LME's cash against the three-month zinc contract had moved to $12.50 a tonne at Thursday's close, the deepest since Nov. 21, indicating confidence about availability of immediate supply. In other metals, LME aluminium slipped by 1.0% to $2,398 a tonne, nickel shed 2.4% to $24,450, tin was down 2.0% at $26,400 and lead rose 0.3% to $2,160. (Reporting by Polina Devitt; Additional reporting by Siyi Liu and Dominique Patton; Editing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan and Jan Harvey)
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