KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuala Lumpur Tin Market (KLTM) is expected to continue its range-bound trading next week with the price of the metal likely to hover between US$16,500 and 16,700 per tonne.
A dealer said the slow down in the Chinese economy due to the Covid-19 outbreak has dragged the global market including commodities.
“I’m afraid the virus outbreak in China will continue to further dampen the global economy this year and Malaysia will also be impacted,” he said.
On Wednesday, Bank Negara announced the country’s fourth-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded by 3.6%, making the full-year growth 4.3%, below the government’s projection of 4.7%.
It was the slowest growth since 2016, with many analysts cited lower export due to the US-China trade war as among the reasons.
Meanwhile, the dealer said the local market will continue to track the performance of the benchmark London Metal Exchange (LME) in the coming week.
During the week just ended, the tin market was mostly lower in line with the LME, with prices ranging between US$16,450 and US$16,600 a tonne.
On a Friday-to-Friday basis, the price on the KLTM decreased US$210 per tonne to US$16,540 per tonne from US$16,750 per tonne the previous week.
The price differential between the KLTM and the London Metal Exchange (LME) was at a discount of US$45 per tonne compared with the premium of US$55 per tonne.
Weekly turnover increased to 91 tonnes from 83 tonnes last week, with the bulk of the trade involved buyers from China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, European countries, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Hong Kong. – Feb 15, 2020, Bernama.