LME copper edges down on a stronger dollar

LME copper ticked down on Thursday, having gained more than 2% in the last session, as the US dollar hit a more than one-week high and rising inventories with muted China demand weighed on prices of the red metal.

Benchmark copper on the LME edged 0.2% down to $12,879.50 a metric ton as of 0344 GMT after rising 2.3% on Wednesday.

 Trading is thin with the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed for the Lunar New Year holidays till February 23.

“With China and Hong Kong closed, it’s not surprising that (copper’s) basically not doing anything and waiting for liquidity to come back,” said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive, adding that a firm dollar was also pressuring prices slightly.

The dollar held on to gains after minutes from the Federal Reserve showed policymakers did not seem to be in a rush to cut interest rates and that several were open to hikes if inflation proved sticky.

A stronger US dollar makes greenback-priced metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Copper stocks in LME-approved warehouses increased by 3,025 tons to 224,650 tons on Tuesday, the highest since March 2025.

The Democratic Republic of Congo struck a deal to tender copper from a major Glencore operation in the country, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

DRC’s state miner Gecamines has secured rights to market about half of Kamoto Copper Company’s output — controlled by a Glencore subsidiary — for at least the next two years, and 30% of production after that, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

In other metals, zinc prices were flat at $3,352.0, after touching a two-week low on Tuesday.

Aluminium lost 0.4% to $3,076.50, breaking a four-session losing streak.

Lead gained 0.1% to $1,947.50, and nickel was up 0.9% at $17,425 a ton.