LME Copper Continued Its Decline Amid Escalating Global Trade Concerns [LME Closing on April 9]

On Wednesday, April 9, LME copper futures continued their decline as bargain-hunting dried up and concerns over global trade tensions intensified. At 17:00 London time (00:00 Beijing time on April 10), LME three-month copper closed down $42.5, or 0.49%, at $8,613/mt. London copper prices have fallen 20% since March 26, when they hit a nine-month high of $10,164.5/mt. Dan Smith, research director at Amalgamated Metal Trading, said, "There was clearly some bargain-hunting, but I think the issue is that the prospect of a US recession is rising." According to a Xinhua report on April 9, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council announced that, with the approval of the State Council, the additional tariff rates specified in the Commission's Announcement No. 4 of 2025 on imports originating from the US would be adjusted from 34% to 84%, effective from 12:01 on April 10, 2025. Other matters will be handled in accordance with Announcement No. 4 of 2025. Smith said, "I think everyone hopes the US will ease its aggressive tariffs, but I think it will take some time to shake off the impact." Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday that it expects copper prices to fall to an average of $8,300/mt in Q3 2025. Chinese industrial users in need of spot copper have been taking advantage of the price decline in the market. The Yangshan copper premium reached $87/mt, the highest since December 2023, more than doubling since the end of February. Among other metals, three-month tin fell $2,779, or 8.52%, to $29,824/mt, leading the decline in base metals. Tin futures once fell as much as 11% during the session, hitting a low of $28,925/mt since January 3, after major producer Alphamin Resources Corp announced it was resuming operations at its Bisie tin mine in the DRC in phases.