Metals Fall Across the Board, Copper Rises as Market Prepares for Potential Tariffs [LME Close on March 24]

On Monday, March 24, copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose as traders bought metal for delivery to the US, which has threatened to impose tariffs on imported industrial metals.

At 17:00 London time (01:00 Beijing time on March 25), three-month copper closed up $100.5, or 1.02%, at $9,956 per mt, hitting a high of $10,044.5 during the session. Last week, copper prices reached $10,046.5, the highest since October 3.

On COMEX, copper surged to a record high of $5.1845 per pound, equivalent to about $11,430 per ton.

Traders said that the flow of copper from the LME system to the US can be seen in the inventory of warehouses in the exchange's global network.

Over the past four weeks, copper inventories in LME warehouses have fallen by 18% to 221,775 mt. Cancelled warrants—metal earmarked for delivery—account for 50% of the total, indicating that another 111,000 mt is set to leave LME warehouses.

Last month, the US ordered an investigation into the possibility of imposing new tariffs on imported copper to rebuild domestic copper production. Copper is crucial for EVs, power grids, and many consumer goods.

The aim of the US tariffs is to encourage local metal production, but these operations may struggle to obtain permits, and smelter construction can take years.

According to estimates by Mercuria, around 500,000 mt of copper is currently flowing to the US, which has also contributed to the rise in copper prices.