Copper futures fell on the Shanghai Futures Exchanged Monday after resuming trade following the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, amid weak foreign trade data, SHFE data showed.
China was officially closed from February 7-13 for the spring festival.
Prices of all 12 copper contracts, which run from February-January on the SHFE, closed lower Monday compared with February 5, the last working day before the holiday, losing Yuan 150-770/mt ($23-117/mt).
The front-month February contract closed at Yuan 35,500/mt, down Yuan 580/mt from February 5, while the farthest contract, January 2017, closed at Yuan 36,150/mt, down Yuan 660/mt.
The most active April contract closed at Yuan 35,770/mt, down Yuan 760/mt.
The traded volume of the 12 copper contracts Monday totaled 1,900,110 mt, down 5.4% from February 5.
The London Metal Exchange official cash price for copper stood at $4,488-$4,488.50/mt Friday, compared with $4,472-$4,474/mt Thursday and $4,668.50-$4,669/mt on February 5.
China's foreign trade slumped in January, with both exports and imports slowing at a faster-than-expected rate due to weak global demand, the official Xinhua news agency reported Monday, quoting data from the Chinese customs.
Exports in yuan-denominated terms dropped 6.6% year on year to Yuan 1.14 trillion ($175 billion), slowing from 2.3% growth last month, while imports declined 14.4% to Yuan 737.5 billion, from a 4% decline the previous month, according to the General Administration of Customs.
The fundamental factor behind Monday's disappointing figures has more to do with the overall lack of external demand rather than changes in exchange rates, HSBC said in a research note.
