Copper steady as tight LME stocks counter China demand worries, Mideast tensions

SINGAPORE: Copper prices were little changed on Tuesday as support from dwindling London Metal Exchange inventories offset pressure from concerns about Middle East tensions, high oil prices and weaker Chinese import data.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.22% at $13,585.5 a metric ton by 0300 GMT.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged up 0.02% at 104,090 yuan ($15,356.58) per ton.

Copper has been supported by declining stocks on the London Metal Exchange as traders shift the metal to the United States ahead of a U.S. decision at the end of June on copper import tariffs.

Elsewhere, data released on Tuesday from top consumer China showed a marked decline in imports of unwrought copper this year, which capped prices.

For the first five months of 2026, China imported 2.01 million tons of unwrought copper and copper products, down 7% from a year earlier.

The Yangshan copper premium, which reflects demand for imported copper, stood at $64 a ton on Monday, its lowest since April 28.

Industrial metals have come under pressure from worries about growth due to high oil prices and the conflict in the Middle East.

Oil prices were calm on Tuesday, after volatility on Sunday and Monday, when an exchange of fire between Iran and Israel over the weekend saw prices rise as much as 5%, before paring back much of those gains.

Among other LME metals, aluminium dipped 0.31%, zinc fell 0.27%, lead lost 0.38%, nickel shed 0.77% and tin declined 0.95%.

Elsewhere on the SHFE, aluminium lost 0.37%, zinc dipped 0.24%, lead dropped 1.86%, nickel fell 2.11% and tin shed 1.76%.