(Updates with closing prices)By Peter HobsonLONDON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Copper and other industrialmetals prices fell on Thursday as the United States and Chinaexchanged threats in their trade dispute and the yuan slumped toan 11-year low against the dollar.
Investors fear the trade war is undermining economic growthand metals usage. A weaker yuan, meanwhile, makes dollar-pricedmetals more expensive for Chinese buyers.China is the world's top consumer of industrial metals, andhigher prices there could damage demand.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME)ended down 0.8% at $5,683 a tonne after touching $5,671, thelowest since Aug. 7.
The weaker yuan and fears over the health of the globaleconomy were having a bigger impact than supply deficits whichshould be supportive for metals prices, said Commerzbank analystDaniel Briesemann.
China was unlikely to quickly implement large-scale economicstimulus measures that would support demand, he added.
TRADE WAR: Beijing said on Thursday it would retaliateagainst new U.S. tariffs on its goods, after President DonaldTrump said he had to confront China over trade even if it causedshort-term harm to the U.S. economy.Metals prices have fallen sharply since the trade war beganlast summer, with copper down more than 20% from a June 2018peak.
FED: Minutes of last month's U.S. Federal Reserve meetingshowed policymakers were deeply divided over whether to cutinterest rates, but united in wanting to signal they were not ona preset path to more rate cuts. Interest rate cuts aimed at stimulating economic activitywould be likely to support metals.EUROPE: Euro zone business growth picked up a touch inAugust, helped by brisk services activity and as manufacturingcontracted at a slower pace, but future expectations were theirweakest in over six years, a survey showed.CODELCO: Chile's Codelco , the world's top copperproducer, said on Wednesday it had shut down its Ventanassmelter along Chile's central coast for maintenance. It saidthis would not impact production. INDONESIA: Indonesia's nickel miners association said itwould continue asking the government to stick to its 2022timetable for a nickel ore export ban. Concerns that Indonesia, a major exporter of nickel, willmove forward implementation of the ban have sparked fears ofsupply constraints and helped prices to rally sharply.
ZINC/LEAD: The global zinc market swung into a small surplusin June, while the lead market flipped to deficit, data from theInternational Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) showed.OTHER METALS: LME nickel finished down 1.1% at$15,660 a tonne, zinc fell 1.9% to $2,245, lead lost 1.3% to $2,058, tin ended unchanged at $16,200 andaluminium closed 0.7% lower at $1,766.
(Reporting by Peter Hobson; additional reporting by Mai Nguyen;editing by Jane Merriman, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, KirstenDonovan)