(Updates throughout, changes dateline from HANOI)<\/p>\n
LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) – Copper edged lower on Monday as slowing profit growth in industrial firms in top consumer China metals, rising inventories and low premiums sapped enthusiasm for the metal.<\/p>\n
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) shed 0.3% to $9,387 a tonne by 1120 GMT. The metal hit a record of $10,747.50 per tonne in May.<\/p>\n
Profit growth at China\u2019s industrial firms slowed again in May as surging raw material prices squeezed margins and weighed on factory activity.<\/p>\n
High prices spurred the Chinese government to cool prices by releasing some of its metal stockpiles.<\/p>\n
On-warrant inventories of copper in LME-registered warehouses have jumped to their highest since May 2020 while Yangshan premiums of the metal going into China languished. <\/span>MCUSTX-TOTAL<\/span>SMM-CUYP-CN<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe short term fundamentals have not managed to keep up with the extent to which prices have rallied,\u201d said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen, citing rising LME stocks and low premiums.<\/p>\n \u201cThe market has fallen in love with copper due to its green credentials and electrification focus but a rise in demand related to that has not started to pick up yet.\u201d<\/p>\n