Copper prices touched a near one-week low on Thursday and other base metals also slipped, dragged down by a strong dollar and mounting global growth fears amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran.
The LME’s three-month copper was down 0.5% at $9,609 per metric ton in official open-outcry trading. Prices hit their lowest level since June 13.
“A stronger U.S. dollar on higher on geopolitical concerns tends to weaken U.S. dollar-based prices. Long-only funds are sitting on the sidelines due to elevated risk concerns,” said SP Angel analyst John Meyer.
The pullback also reflects reduced activity as U.S. traders are away for the Juneteenth holiday on Thursday, he added.
The dollar firmed, buoyed by rising Middle East tensions and as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s cautionary tone on inflation, and oil prices jumped.
Israel struck a key Iranian nuclear site and Iranian missiles hit an Israeli hospital, as U.S. President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the U.S. would join Israel in air strikes seeking to destroy Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
Copper eases on growth concerns, firmer dollar
War, elevated oil prices and inflation tend to disrupt supply chains, increase costs, and dampen investment, slowing global growth.
LME copper inventories dropped by 4,025 tons to 103,325 tons, data for Wednesday showed. This marked the weakest level in more than a year.
In recent months, copper has been flowing to the United States, where it attracts a premium due to expectations Trump will impose tariffs on the metal.
LME aluminium fell 0.8% to $2,526.
Meanwhile, premiums for consumers buying aluminium on the physical market in the United States fell more than 7% on Wednesday as traders speculated that U.S. import tariffs on shipments from Canada could be cut, metal industry sources said.
LME tin lost 0.5% to $32,200, zinc shed 0.3% to $2,630, lead inched 0.4% lower to $1,986, while nickel was down 0.1% at $15,035.
The International Lead and Zinc Study Group on Wednesday said the global zinc market surplus narrowed in April while the lead market swung to surplus.
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