LONDON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Copper prices slid to their lowest in more than two weeks on Monday, pressured by fresh COVID curbs in top consumer China, a stronger dollar and rising inventories in warehouses registered with the London Metal Exchange.
Benchmark copper on the LME was down 2.2% at $7,901 a tonne at 1703 GMT from an earlier $7,858, the lowest since Nov. 4.
Beijing's most populous district urged residents to stay at home on Monday, while the capital reported an increase in COVID-19 cases. Local authorities in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou locked down the area for five days.
"Hopes of a rapid reopening in China have been disappointed," said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke.
"The elephant in the room is the property market. I don't buy that because people don't have to quarantine anymore, they will go out and buy homes, confidence has been badly shaken."
Property and construction account for a large part of copper consumption in China.
A recent Reuters survey showed China's property sector will remain weak but see a gradual recovery in 2023, while prices of new homes are expected to fall in the first half of next year.
Copper stocks
Easing concerns about LME copper supplies have created a
discount for the cash over the three-month contract
The higher U.S. currency weighed on industrial metals overall as it makes dollar-priced commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Aluminium ceded 2.1% to $2,378 a tonne, zinc lost 4% to $2,910, lead was down 2.5% at $2,101 and nickel fell 1.2% to $25,075.
Tin tumbled 6.6% to $21,170 a tonne.
"Production has strongly recovered this year and tin is exposed to a further slowdown in consumer goods spending as ex-China economic activity deteriorates," said Citi analyst Tom Mulqueen.
Citi expects tin prices to fall to $18,000 a tonne over the next three months. (Reporting by Pratima Desai; additional reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru; editing by Devika Syamnath and Jason Neely)