Materials Down as Copper Futures Hit One-Month Low -- Materials Roundup

Shares of miners and other commodities declined as copper futures hit a one-month low following the release of Chinese production data. China produced 865,000 tons of copper in December, churning out a record 8.89 million tons for the whole of 2017, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics. One brokerage said there are also incipient issues on the demand side of the equation. "The two-year capacity cut [in base-metals production] is in its final stages, with stock drivers shifting to demand fluctuations from supply constraints, in our view," said analysts at brokerage Credit Suisse, in a research note. "With slowing infrastructure and property investment growth, we forecast demand growth for China base metals and paper to decelerate to about 3% year-over-year in 2018." Steel Dynamics shares were more or less flat after the steelmaker's quarterly sales exceeded Wall Street forecasts. A Steel Dynamics executive said domestic steelmakers were awaiting decisions on tariffs, saying cheap imports were still flooding into the U.S. structural steel market.

-Rob Curran, rob.curran@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2018 16:38 ET (21:38 GMT)