LONDON: Copper and other base metals were on track to finish a very volatile week on the rise in London on Friday, supported by a weaker dollar, though gains were capped by the potential for trade conflict between the US and China to curb demand.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 1.9% at $9,159 a metric ton in official open-outcry trading. The metal used widely in power and construction is up 4% this week after hitiing a multi-month low of $8,105 a ton on Monday as tariff sparring between the world’s two largest economies fuelled global recession fears.
Beijing increased its tariffs on US imports to 125% on Friday, hitting back at US President Donald Trump’s decision to boost duties on Chinese goods to 145% and raise the stakes in a trade war that threatens to upend global supply chains.
However, consumer buying and temporary technical factors helped to restore a little stability in metals. The spread between the cash LME copper contract and benchmark three-month futures has become volatile ahead of next week’s LME contracts settlement and was last at a premium of $50 a ton, compared with a $63 discount a week ago. On the demand side, Chilean copper giant Codelco said on Thursday that it was seeing strong demand from China this quarter.
Supporting this, the Yangshan copper premium, which reflects demand for copper imported into China, remained at $87 a ton, its strongest since late 2023. Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 19% this week.
In other metals, LME aluminium gained 1.4% to $2,404 a ton in official activity, zinc rose 1% to $2,667, lead was up 0.8% at $1,907, tin climbed 2.4% to $31,400 and nickel jumped 2.8% to $15,210.
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