Copper hits one-week high amid weak dollar, tin at record high

LONDON: Copper prices rose on Friday, getting support from a weaker dollar, growth in other metals and setting aside for now signs of rising stock availability for nearby supply.

The benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange gained 3.2percent to USD13,164 a metric ton by 1705 GMT after hitting a one-week high of USD13,182. The metal set a record high of USD13,407 on January 14.

The US dollar headed for its steepest weekly drop since June as geopolitical tensions unsettled investors. A weaker US currency makes the dollar-priced metals more attractive for buyers using other currencies.

Providing some support from the supply side, Capstone Copper said that a workers’ strike had forced a production halt at its Mantoverde mine in Chile.

However, record December copper production in top metals consumer China and high prices saw the Yangshan copper premium, a gauge of Chinese appetite for copper imports, stabilising at USD22 a ton, its lowest since mid-2024.

The premium of the Comex copper contracts against the LME ones has narrowed down sharply this week, prompting deliveries to the LME-registered warehouses in the US, while copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 6 percent. Washington refrained from imposing any tariffs when announcing the results of its critical metals review in mid-January.

This review has significantly weakened the case for copper tariffs, although it cannot be fully ruled out, analysts at Macquarie said in a note. Copper is subject to a separate review in the US due by mid-2026.

Copper stocks of the three exchanges are at 905,069 tons, the highest level since 2018, with more than half of them in the US Comex warehouses.

Indicating rising availability of the metal for nearby supply, the spread between the LME cash copper contract and the benchmark swung to a discount of USD83 a ton on Thursday, its widest since September, from a premium of USD102 on Tuesday. The discount was last at USD74 on Friday.

In other LME metals, tin jumped 8.1percent to USD55,385 a ton after hitting a record high of USD56,920. Tin is driven by speculative buying, while the physical “demand is melting down”, said a metals trader.

Aluminium rose 1.4percent to USD3,176, zinc climbed 1.8percent to USD3,270, lead edged 0.5percent higher to USD2,030, while nickel was up 3.1percent at USD18,540.