METALS-Copper dips as stronger dollar offsets impact of report on China's stockpiling plans

(updates price for Asia market close) March 21 (Reuters) - Copper prices in London fell on Friday, as a stronger dollar overshadowed the positive sentiment following a media report that said China planned to expand its strategic reserves of key industrial metals. The National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, which manages official commodities stockpiles, made price inquiries and bidding for the metals, including cobalt, copper, nickel and lithium, Bloomberg News reported, without details on volumes or timing. Benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 on the London Metals Exchange (LME) was down 0.9% to $9,853 a metric ton, as of 0707 GMT. "The strategic buying news doesn't have much impact on metals prices today, due to lack of details," a trader said. The dollar firmed, bolstered by the U.S. Federal Reserve's indication that there is no immediate intent to reduce interest rates. The dollar index =USD was up 0.3% to 104.06 after climbing 0.36% on Thursday. A stronger U.S. currency makes dollar-priced metals more expensive for buyers using other currencies. U.S. President Donald Trump utilized emergency powers on Thursday to increase domestic production of critical minerals such as lithium and nickel, to counter China's sector dominance and meet anticipated demand for electric vehicle batteries. LME aluminium CMAL3 fell 0.7% to $2,641.5 a ton, lead CMPB3 was down 0.8% to $2,040, zinc CMZN3 lost 0.4% to $2,907, tin CMSN3 dropped 2.1% to $34,610, nickel CMNI3 fell 0.8% to $16,150. SHFE copper SCFcv1 lost 0.9% to 80,610 yuan ($11,252.64) a ton, SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 fell 0.7% to 20,700 yuan, zinc SZNcv1 was unchanged at 23,770 yuan, lead SPBcv1 dropped 1.4% to 17,430 yuan and nickel SNIcv1 lost 0.9% to 129,190 yuan. Tin SSNcv1 slid 1.0% to 276,150 yuan. ($1 = 7.2463 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Reuters staff; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Varun H K) ((For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: LME price overview RING= COMEX copper futures 0#HG: All metals news MTL All commodities news C Foreign exchange rates FX= SPEED GUIDES LME/INDEX ))