US Economic Weakness Contrasts with Resilient Copper Market: Prices Show Strength Amid Volatility

Published: Apr 30, 2025 08:42

Save

[US Economic Weakness Fails to Mask Copper Market Strength: Copper Prices Show Resilience Amid Overnight Volatility]: On the macro side, the number of job openings in the US in March fell to the lowest level since September last year. In April, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index in the US plummeted to a nearly five-year low. The US goods trade deficit widened to a record $162 billion in March. Some economists have stated that the widening trade deficit could drag down Q1 GDP growth by 1.9 percentage points, with market concerns emerging. On the fundamental side, as the Labour Day holiday approaches, downstream stocking has been active. In the Shanghai region, destocking has continued, and the availability of spot cargo in the spot market is tight, strengthening the seller's bargaining power and driving up spot premiums for copper cathode. Today, being the last trading day of the month, most enterprises will close their books for settlement, potentially reducing market activity. However, due to tight supply and persistent rigid demand, spot prices are expected to remain firm. On the price side, with robust downstream stocking ahead of the Labour Day holiday combined with concerns over tight supply, copper prices are expected to have upside room today.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

For any inquiries or to learn more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

18 hours ago

"Premier Li Qiang Leads State Council Meeting on Enhancing Effective Investment, Boosting Economic Growth"

Premier Li Qiang presided over an executive meeting of the State Council to study policy measures for promoting effective investment. The meeting noted that promoting effective investment plays an important role in stabilizing economic growth and strengthening momentum for development. It is necessary to innovate and improve policy measures, and intensify efforts to enhance the efficiency of utilizing funds such as central budget investments, ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, local government special bonds, and new-type policy-based financial instruments. In conjunction with formulating and implementing the 15th Five-Year Plan

18 hours ago

"Guided by Xi Jinping Thought, Implement 20th CPC Congress Spirit, Apply New Development Philosophy...

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the plenary sessions of the Party’s 20th Central Committee, fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy, strengthen top-level design, build computing power interconnection nodes oriented toward national hub periods, major strategic regions, and key industries, establish a system of computing power interconnection nodes, improve the efficiency and service level of public computing power resources, and promote high-quality development of computing power.

18 hours ago

Indirect Iran-US Nuclear Talks in Muscat Show Progress, Omani FM Mediates Tense but Efficient Discussions

After intensive indirect consultations, the new round of nuclear talks between Iran and the US in Muscat, the capital of Oman, has achieved phased progress. It is reported that during this round of talks, the Iranian and US delegations did not meet directly. Instead, Omani Foreign Minister Badr acted as an intermediary, conveying a series of core proposals, strategic concerns, and policy positions to the other side. The atmosphere at the talks was tense yet efficient. According to preliminary on-site assessments, although both sides continue to negotiate over specific terms, they have reached a consensus on the key objective of "continuing dialogue."

18 hours ago