Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 1.6% to $10,017 a tonne after hitting $10,042 in early trade. Last week, prices hit $10,046.50 a tonne, the highest since Oct. 3.
The most-traded copper contract on New York’s Comex exchange was just shy of an all-time high of $5.20 a pound, set nearly a year ago, before falling to around $5.12. At around $11,288 a tonne, US copper still holds a premium of around $1,500 over LME copper.
Copper stocks in LME warehouses have fallen 18% to 221,775 yuan/t over the past four weeks. Cancellations – metal designated for delivery – account for 50% of the total, suggesting another 111,000 yuan/t will leave LME warehouses.
Copper has rallied more than 27% so far this year amid a flurry of tariff announcements. The rally has been more pronounced since US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month to investigate the country’s metal imports, which is seen as a precursor to the US adding copper to its tariff list.
In preparation, traders have begun moving large amounts of the metal across the US border, leading to a sharp increase in the Comex premium over the LME. Analysts at trading group Mercuria estimate that about 500,000 yuan a tonne of copper is on its way to the US, compared with the usual monthly imports of about 70,000 yuan a tonne.
The rally also coincides with tightening conditions in the copper market. Years of underinvestment and declining refining capacity have created a shortage of raw copper to meet growing global demand. Mercuria predicts that demand will exceed supply by 320,000 yuan per tonne this year, which, combined with the buildup of inventories in the US, could lead to a scramble for the metal by several countries.
“We think there is something special going on in the copper market,” said Kostas Bintas, head of metals trading at Mercuria and former co-head of metals at Trafigura. “Is it unreasonable to expect $12,000 or $13,000 copper? I’m having a hard time putting a number on it because it’s never happened before.”
Aluminium rose 0.3% to $2,630 a tonne, zinc rose 1.6% to $2,974 a tonne, lead rose 2.2% to $2,061 a tonne and tin rose 0.3% to $34,600 a tonne while nickel rose 0.7% to $16,165 a tonne.
Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/gia-kim-loai-dong-ngay-25-3-tiep-da-tang-manh.html
Comment (0)