Copper slides in broad metals tumble; rising inventories in focus
- The most-active copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed daytime trading down 3.76% at 100,980 yuan
Copper fell sharply on Thursday, extending losses across precious metals, as rising inventories and a stronger US dollar raised demand concerns.
The most-active copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed daytime trading down 3.76% at 100,980 yuan ($14,548.96) a metric ton.
The benchmark three-month copper on the LME fell 0.92% to $12,925 a ton.
Copper had rebounded since Tuesday from a two-session slump in the commodities market, supported by China’s plan to expand its copper strategic reserves.
The metal joined a broader rout across asset classes, including precious metals, with Shanghai copper dropping as much as 4.24% earlier on Thursday and the London benchmark declining as much as 1.53%.
Silver led the plunge across metals, down nearly 17% before paring losses, almost erasing a two-day recovery.
Gold pulled back below the $4,800 an ounce level, but the safe-haven later recovered most of its losses.
The decline was partly driven by a stronger dollar, which was thrown a lifeline by the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Chair of the Federal Reserve, making greenback-denominated commodities less affordable for investors using other currencies.
Copper prices were also pressured by rising inventories, which raised concerns that high prices are testing demand for the red metal widely used in construction and electrification.
A 12,750-ton inflow into LME’s Asian warehouses in Taiwan and South Korea brought on-warrant copper stocks registered with the exchange to 155,725 tons, the highest since March 2025.
Copper inventories in SHFE sheds have also been rising since December, totalling 133,004 tons on Friday, according to the exchange’s weekly stock report, the highest level since April 2025.
Among other SHFE base metals, aluminium tumbled 2.20%, zinc dropped 1.77%, lead nudged 0.27% lower, nickel lost 1.11% and tin plunged 7.01%.
On the LME, aluminium lost 1.48%, zinc dropped 0.91%, lead dipped 0.33%, nickel shed 1.12% and tin slumped 4.71%.
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