Copper edges higher on expected demand from climate push

LONDON: Copper prices ticked higher on Thursday as bullish investors expecting strong demand from a global push for decarbonisation took advantage of a dip to add to their positions.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.1% at $9,455.50 a tonne by 1010 GMT, recovering after touching an intraday low of $9,385.

Prices slipped initially as some investors locked in profits from a rally taking LME copper up 20% since the start of February, while others took the opportunity to add to positions, said Carsten Menke, analyst at Julius Baer in Zurich.

"Days like today when there is no major news flow, some people are saying copper and aluminium are both looking quite pricey, so why not take some profits out of this stellar run that we've had," he said.

"But the underlying market mood is still very bullish and most people are really buying the dips."

The United States pledged to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 at the start of a two-day climate summit amid hopes that other countries would raise their ambitions.

Many analysts have boosted price targets for copper to well over $10,000 a tonne based on increasing demand from electric vehicles and renewable energy grids.

Price gains have been dampened, however, by recent warnings that Chinese officials will take action to cap commodity prices to curb inflation and weak physical demand from industry.

"Downstream acceptability of current copper prices is still low. As a result, trading has become relatively (a) stalemate," said Huatai Futures in a note, but it added that there is still some demand prior to China's Labour Day holiday in early May.

The Yangshan copper premium fell to $48 a tonne, its lowest since Nov. 18, while ShFE copper inventories were last at 202,464 tonnes, an 11-month high.

LME aluminium was little changed at $2,363 a tonne, zinc added 0.2% to $2,819.50, nickel fell 0.8% to $16,070, lead gained 0.7% to $2,038 and tin slipped 0.4% to $26,830.