Copper drifts lower on worries about tariffs hitting US demand

LONDON: Copper prices slipped on Friday as investors worried that the 50% tariff on the metal due to be imposed on U.S. imports will erode demand, and as speculators unwound positions.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was 0.6% weaker at $9,640 per metric ton in official open-outcry trading, down from the three-month peak of $10,020.50 touched on July 2.

The contract was on track to shed about 2% this week, a second weekly decline.

“Given that you have this punitive tariff in the U.S., you will have a dampening impact on demand,” said Carsten Menke, analyst at Julius Baer in Zurich.

“Another element, I think, is position squaring from speculators, who now need to reassess the situation, which had been quite bullish before.”

Menke expects the LME price to head back to $9,000 a ton or below.

Speculators pushed up U.S. copper prices in recent months on expectations of tariffs following an announcement in February of an investigation into duties on imports.

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COMEX copper futures hit an all-time peak of $5.90 a lb this week after the 50% levy was announced, but on Friday fell 1.5% to $5.51 by 1220 GMT, bringing the premium of COMEX over LME copper to $2,521 a ton, or 26%.

COMEX prices were also weighed by an inventory overhang after traders shipped roughly about a year’s worth of copper to the United States so far this year to beat the tariff, analysts said.

Investors were also grappling with uncertainties, such as which copper products would be included in the tariff and whether certain countries might get exceptions.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged 0.05% higher to 78,430 yuan ($10,937.87), but ended the week down 2.05%, after a gain of 2.8% during the previous two weeks.

Among other metals, LME aluminium slipped 0.6% in official activity to $2,592.50 a ton, nickel shed 0.9% to $15,150, zinc lost 1% to $2,748, lead fell 0.8% to $2,027 and tin was down 0.3% at $33,445.