Copper dips on stronger dollar, rising inventories

Copper fell for a second session on Thursday, tracking losses in the precious metals complex, as rising inventories and a stronger U.S. dollar weighed on prices.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.7% at $12,950 per metric ton as of 1011 GMT.

Copper, widely used in power, construction and manufacturing, earlier slipped as much as 1.5% to $12,854.50 as industrial metals joined a broader rout across asset classes, including precious metals, where silver shed around 11% on a firmer dollar and easing U.S.-China trade tensions.

A stronger dollar makes dollar-denominated metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Copper inventories also continued to rise, with LME stocks touching 180,575 tons, the most since May 2025.

In China, inventories in Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses climbed in a seasonal buildup ahead of the Lunar New Year, reaching their highest since April at 133,004 tons.

Meanwhile, copper stocks on the U.S. Comex exchange stood at a record 529,962 tons.

“I think there’s no physical shortage of copper today because there’s a lot in the States,” said SP Angel analyst John Meyer. “I strongly suspect the Chinese State Reserves Bureau is releasing some copper” to steady the market after the recent price spike, he added.

Copper prices hit a record $14,527.50 on January 29.

On Thursday, the cash LME copper contract was trading at a discount of $77 a ton to the three-month forward, suggesting scant demand for the metal in the near term.

China will expand its strategic copper reserves and explore creating a commercial stockpiling system led by state-owned enterprises, a senior official at the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association said on Tuesday.

In a broad base metals slump, aluminium fell 0.9% to $3,041.50 per ton, zinc shed 0.5% to $3,290.50, lead dipped 0.5% to $1,956, nickel lost 1.9% to $17,035 and tin slid 2.9% to $46,605, after hitting its lowest since January 9.