LONDON: Copper and aluminium prices crept higher on Thursday as investors waited to see whether U.S. President Donald Trump would following through with his threat to impose tariffs this weekend.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 0.5% at $9,114 a metric ton by 1030 GMT while aluminium added 0.3% to $2,628.
LME copper has shed 10% since hitting a four-month peak of $10,158 last September.
“The problem with all the base metals is that they’re in a waiting pattern to figure out what’s happening with tariffs,” said Nitesh Shah, commodity strategist at WisdomTree.
“That’s really throwing a lot of noise into the market at the moment and it’s hard to see how other fundamentals can be heard above that at the moment.”
Trump’s spokeswoman on Tuesday said he still planned to make good on his promise to slap new tariffs on Canada, Mexico and possibly China, the world’s biggest metals consumer, on Saturday.
Trump’s copper, aluminium tariffs may raise costs for U.S. consumers
“We continue to expect LME base metal flat price weakness in response to confirmation of wider tariffs,” Citi said in a note.
U.S. Comex copper futures rose 0.6% to $4.307 a lb or $9,495 a ton, a premium of $381 over the LME price, as investors seek to price in the impact of tariffs.
Helping to support the metals market was a slightly weaker dollar index, which had strengthened on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said there would be no rush to cut rates again.
A softer dollar makes commodities priced in the U.S. currency less expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Aluminium paused after climbing by 1.8% on Wednesday in the wake of news that the European Union proposed banning imports of the metal from Russia in a fresh package of sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.
“There’s uncertainty because Hungary may vote against it. That’s another concern hovering over the aluminium market,” Shah said.
Among other metals, LME nickel shed 0.5% to $15,420 a ton, zinc gained 0.6% to $2,800, lead added 0.3% to $1,965 and tin was up 0.3% at $30,185.
The Shanghai Futures Exchange is closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Source: Brecorder
