On March 20 (Thursday), LME copper futures hit a more than five-month high, breaking through the $10,000 mark, as the market focused on US tariff developments.
LME three-month copper rose 0.27% to $10,014 per mt, earlier touching its highest level since early October 2024.
US tariff uncertainty widened the premium of Comex copper over LME contracts, reaching a record high of $1,259 per mt on Wednesday, surpassing the previous record set on Tuesday.
ING Economics stated in a report: "Copper prices may continue to be supported in the short term due to advance shipments ahead of tariffs."
ING noted that the threat of US tariffs on copper led to a surge in US imports, causing supply to be tight in other regions.
In other metals, LME three-month nickel was the worst performer in the base metal sector, falling 1.52% to $16,150 per mt. News that major Indonesian nickel processing plants were unaffected by recent floods alleviated supply concerns.
Three-month aluminum rose 0.3% to $2,679 per mt; three-month lead fell 0.1% to $2,084 per mt; three-month zinc gained 0.2% to $2,931 per mt; and three-month tin increased 0.57% to $35,195 per mt.
The most-traded SHFE copper May contract rose 930 yuan or 1.15% to 81,580 yuan per mt; the SHFE aluminum May contract increased 240 yuan or 1.16% to 20,905 yuan per mt; the SHFE zinc May contract fell 80 yuan or 0.34% to 23,760 yuan per mt; the SHFE lead May contract dropped 20 yuan or 0.11% to 17,645 yuan per mt; SHFE nickel declined 1,460 yuan or 1.12% to 128,930 yuan per mt; and SHFE tin decreased 990 yuan or 0.35% to 280,380 yuan per mt.
