LONDON: Copper steadied on Friday as a dip to more affordable price levels sparked some buying interest, but the metal was still headed for its steepest weekly decline since October on rising inventories and a stronger US dollar.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was flat at USD12,900 per metric ton in official open outcry activity, having earlier slumped as much as 2.9 percent to USD12,528. The red metal is on course to lose 1.8percent this week, which would be its biggest weekly fall since the week ended October 10, and is down 11.2percent from a record high of USD14,527.50 on January 29.
Prices are holding around USD12,500, broker Marex said in a note, adding that a merchant bid had emerged after Friday’s dip. LME copper stocks rose to 183,275 tons, the highest since May 2025, following further deliveries into South Korea and New Orleans, while inventories on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed for a ninth straight week to 248,911 tons in a seasonal build-up. On the US Comex exchange, copper stocks are at a record 531,999 tons.
Copper has joined gold and silver in a broader correction, as an unwinding of long positions has “pulled prices closer to fair value,” analysts at Sucden Financial said. That is likely to keep prices choppy, “particularly as liquidity thins into the Lunar New Year,” they added, ING analyst Ewa Manthey said the copper market would refocus on tight ore supply, growing demand from electrification and ongoing grid investment after the holiday.
“In our view, those drivers haven’t changed,” she said. Aluminium was the biggest gainer, jumping 1.2percent to USD3,063 a ton, after earlier sinking to USD2,990. Consumer buying interest has emerged on previous dips below the USD3,000 mark, Marex said.
Other moves were modest in quiet pre-holiday trade. Zinc nudged up 0.1percent to USD3,306, nickel slipped 0.4 percent to USD17,020, tin dropped 0.2percent to USD46,390 and lead lost 0.3percent to USD1,949.
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