LONDON: Copper prices edged down on Friday on worries about the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, though losses were limited on news that peace talks between the US and Iran could resume over the weekend. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was 0.3percent lower at USD13,313 a metric ton by 1600 GMT. Copper pared losses after falling as much as 1.1percent earlier in the session after news that Iran’s foreign minister was expected in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Friday to discuss proposals for restarting peace talks with the United States. President Donald Trump had said on Thursday he was in no rush to reach a peace agreement with Iran.
“While the risk of escalation through military conflict is reduced for now, the severity of the disruption continues to grow every day,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen. LME copper, which hit a record high of USD14,527.50 a ton on
January 29, is caught between competing drivers: the threat of weaker economic activity pressuring demand against the threat of mine disruptions from shortages of sulphuric acid.
Key resistance on the upside is at USD13,525 a ton, which has seen repeated challenges turned back since early February, Hansen added. “With all these unknowns right now, that’s probably why we’ve been more or less trading sideways for the last two weeks,” he said. Also pressuring copper was news that the International Copper Study Group said on Thursday the global refined copper market was expected to flip into surplus in 2026.
The most-active copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange sank 0.7percent to 102,460 yuan (USD14,988.52) a ton. Helping support the metal was a continued decline in SHFE inventories, which fell 16.3percent over the past week and have more than halved since early March. LME nickel advanced 1.8percent to USD19,075, its highest since January 29, on worries about supply.
The International Nickel Study Group this week said the market was expected to swing to its first annual deficit since 2021. Elsewhere on the LME, aluminium dropped 0.9percent to USD3,586 a ton, zinc rose 0.5percent to USD3,470, lead gained 0.5percent to USD1,964 and tin added 0.2percent to USD50,325.