Shanghai copper falls on weaker Chinese demand, profit-booking

Shanghai copper declined on Tuesday, as profit-taking and weaker Chinese demand weighed on the market amid a broader risk-off turn.

The most-traded contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped 1.96% to 98,490 yuan ($14,064.78) per metric ton, as of 0330 GMT, after briefly touching 96,010 yuan, the lowest since December 25.

The losses in the initial minutes of trading were narrowing, following gains in the benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange, which climbed 2.19% to $12,489.50 a ton.

Lower copper prices encouraged some dip-buying, helping trim losses, traders said.

The decline in Shanghai copper was an extension of easing since Asian afternoon trading hours, when the red metal pulled back from record highs hit last week, weighed by profit-taking ahead of year-end and weaker demand in China amid high prices.

The Yangshan copper premium, a gauge of Chinese appetite for imported copper, declined to $53 a ton on Monday, down from $55 previously but still an improvement from below $40 since mid-October.

Copper also took a hit from investors’ broader shift to a risk-off stance.

Both gold and silver saw a reversal from record highs on Monday.

Investors continued to monitor the US Federal Reserve after President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to sue Fed Chair Jerome Powell, while waiting for minutes of the central bank’s December meeting to be published later on Tuesday.

Among other SHFE base metals, tin led the decline, with the Shanghai contract declining 4.84% to 325,780 yuan a ton.

High tin prices weighed on China’s domestic demand for the soldering metal, with stock levels continuing to rise.

Deliverable tin stocks in SHFE sheds rose to 8,477 tons last week, according to the exchange’s weekly stock report on Friday.

The benchmark three-month tin, however, rose 1.59% to $41,390 a ton. Nickel surged.

The most-active nickel contract in Shanghai surged 3.71% to 132,200 yuan a ton, after touching a near-nine-month high of 133,330 yuan. The benchmark three-month nickel also rose, up 4.15% to reach $16,470 a ton after breaching $16,500 level to touch a nine-month high of $16,540.

The recent strength in nickel still came from the reported plan of the Indonesian government to slash 2026 nickel output.

Elsewhere on SHFE, aluminium dipped 0.22%, zinc rose gained 0.56%, lead added 0.40%.

Among other LME metals, aluminium rose 0.56%, zinc added 0.79% and lead climbed 1%.