LONDON: London copper prices hit a five-month high on Thursday breaking above a major psychological mark of $10,000 per metric ton before retreating under pressure from a stronger dollar and producer selling.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 0.4% to $9,950 a ton in official open-outcry trading after hitting $10,046.50, its highest since October 3.
Supporting the London price were the most active May copper futures on the U.S. Comex exchange, which were last down 0.6% at $5.067 a pound after hitting a ten-month high of $5.1485.
Comex copper is up 27% so far this year compared to the LME benchmark’s growth of 14% as the United States considers imposing new tariffs on copper. U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium products took effect last week.
The premium of the Comex most active contract hit a record high of $1,342 per ton on Wednesday and was last at $1,250.
Due to this wide premium and the tariff threat itself, lots of copper is heading to the United States now, a source at a U.S. warehouse operator said.
US copper hits 10-month peak on speculation over Trump tariffs
The flows into the U.S. are tightening non-U.S. markets for copper, which is used in power and construction. However, any backtracking on U.S. tariffs could drive down the premium and U.S. import demand, Morgan Stanley said in a note.
Comex copper stocks are down 7.5% since mid-February to 93,154 tons, but outflows from the LME copper stocks continue, daily LME data showed. The copper stocks in LME-registered warehouses are at 223,275 metric tons, their lowest since mid-July.
LME aluminium was steady at $2,670 a ton and zinc gained 0.3% to $2,932.5 in official activity after daily LME data showed massive fresh cancellations, bringing the cancelled stocks to 60% of the total for both metals.
The cancellations indicate only the intention to remove the product from the LME system, and the metal can be put back on warrant.
LME lead fell 1.1% to $2,063, tin added 0.6% to $35,200 and nickel lost 1.2% to $16,205.
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