Metals generally declined, with copper futures falling for five consecutive sessions, hitting a nearly three-week low [LME closing on April 1].

LME copper futures fell for the fifth consecutive session on Tuesday, hitting the lowest level in nearly three weeks, weighed down by uncertainty over US tariffs.

At 17:00 London time on April 1 (00:00 Beijing time on April 2), LME three-month copper closed down $17, or 0.18%, at $9,693/mt, after earlier touching $9,669, the lowest since March 12.

The market is concerned about the reciprocal tariffs that US President Trump is expected to introduce this week.

Nitesh Shah, WisdomTree commodity strategist, said, "Concerns about an economic slowdown have intensified, and other cyclical assets have been hit, so I think this has also weighed on copper prices."

The Caixin China manufacturing PMI for March, released on April 1, came in at 51.2, up 0.4 percentage points MoM, hitting a new high since December 2024, indicating that manufacturing production and business activities continued to expand at a faster pace.

The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and the National Bureau of Statistics Service Industry Survey Center released the China PMI for March on March 31. The manufacturing PMI continued to rise, with market demand accelerating and new momentum developing faster. The China manufacturing PMI for March was 50.5%, up 0.3 percentage points MoM, operating in the expansion territory for two consecutive months.

COMEX May copper futures were basically flat, last trading at $5.0325/lb, narrowing the premium of New York copper over LME copper from a record $1,578/mt last week to around $1,400/mt.

Among other base metals, LME three-month tin climbed $834, or 2.28%, to $37,479/mt, after earlier touching $37,565, the highest since May 2022, due to concerns that an earthquake in tin-rich Myanmar last Friday could disrupt supply.

LME three-month zinc fell $30.50, or 1.07%, to $2,822/mt, after earlier touching $2,808, the lowest since March 4.

Three-month lead pulled back $20.50, or 1.02%, to $1,991.50/mt, after earlier touching $1,984, the lowest since March 3.