LONDON: Copper prices hit their strongest in two months on Thursday, boosted by speculators after copper broke through technical levels as inventories dwindled in London Metal Exchange warehouses and amid supply worries after a big mine in Congo was suspended.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange gained 1.52% to $9,761 per metric ton by 1025 GMT, the strongest since April 1.
Copper got added momentum from speculators after it decisively broke above technical levels on the upside, spurring some automatic buy orders, traders said.
“Overall it’s quite a good backdrop for copper at this point. You still got this build up of Comex stocks coming through, so there’s a squeeze on the LME effectively,” said Dan Smith, managing director at Commodity Market Analytics.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to double tariffs on aluminium and steel to 50% has renewed focus on an ongoing U.S. investigation into potential new copper import duties.
Copper inches up; focus on trade developments
That has accelerated a flow of copper to the United States, including from LME inventories, as traders seek to profit from higher prices there in anticipation of U.S. tariffs being imposed on the metal.
U.S. Comex copper futures climbed 2.5% to $5.01 a lb, boosting the premium over LME copper to $1,321 a ton.
LME copper stocks fell to 138,000 tons, the weakest in nearly a year and down by nearly half so far this year, while Comex inventories have shot up by 90% over the past two months.
LME data on Thursday also showed that copper stocks were due to continue to drop as holders of 11,625 tons of inventories notified the exchange of pending removals.
Copper is also being supported by concern about the recent suspension of the Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Smith added.
Co-owner Ivanhoe Mines said on Monday it planned to restart a section of the mine later this month.
LME tin rose 0.4% to $32,145 a ton after hitting a one-week high on Wednesday on concerns that the resumption of supply from Myanmar’s tin-rich Wa State would take longer than previously expected.
Among other London metals, LME aluminium added 0.2% to $2,489 a ton and nickel gained 0.8% to $15,520 while zinc was little changed at $2,701 and lead eased 0.3% to $1,984.
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