Metals rose across the board, with copper futures hitting a more than two-week low, but recording monthly and quarterly gains. [LME closing on March 28]

Published: Apr 1, 2025 08:38

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LME copper futures closed lower on Monday, hitting the weakest level in more than two weeks, as US tariff policies weighed on the copper market.

At 17:00 London time on March 31 (00:00 Beijing time on April 1), LME three-month copper fell by $84.5, or 0.86%, to $9,710 per mt, after earlier touching $9,679.5, the lowest since March 12.

However, LME copper rose 3.76% in March and 10.74% in Q1.

According to CCTV News, on March 31 local time, US stocks opened sharply lower as the market grew increasingly concerned that the Trump administration's upcoming large-scale tariff plan could harm the global economy.

On March 31, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Service Industry Survey Center released China's PMI for March. The manufacturing PMI continued to rise, with market demand accelerating and new momentum developing rapidly. China's manufacturing PMI for March was 50.5%, up 0.3 percentage points MoM, marking the second consecutive month in the expansion territory.

COMEX copper recently fell 1.81% to $5.0370 per pound, reducing the premium of COMEX copper over LME copper from $1,565 per mt last Friday to around $1,395 per mt.

COMEX copper has climbed more than 23% year-to-date.

Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen, said traders had shipped copper to the US in anticipation of tariffs taking effect, but these tariffs are expected to be implemented in the coming weeks, leaving no time for such actions.

"I think the arbitrage window has closed, or is closing, which could lead to a sharp and significant drop in COMEX copper."

Tin prices bucked the trend and rose due to concerns that an earthquake in Myanmar, a major tin-producing country, last Friday could disrupt supply.

LME three-month tin jumped $425, or 1.17%, to $36,645 per mt, after earlier reaching $37,105, the highest since June 2022.

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