LONDON: Copper prices edged higher on Wednesday on tighter supplies, while aluminium retreated due to profit-taking and worries about the impact of U.S. tariffs on demand.
The three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 0.4% at $9,392 a metric ton by 1050 GMT, having touched its highest in three months on Monday at $9,530.
“What is clear is that there are degrees of tightness in metal markets, certainly copper supplies don’t seem as plentiful as they were in 2024,” said Nitesh Shah, commodity strategist at WisdomTree.
Treatment charges (TC), the fees paid by miners to smelters for converting raw materials into metal, have been declining, indicating a shortage of material.
The overall metals market also got some support from a media report that Chinese authorities are exploring a plan to help property giant Vanke plug a funding gap.
The ailing property sector in top metals consumer China has weighed on metals markets.
Aluminium, copper retreat on fears
LME aluminium lost 1% to $2,618 a ton as investors sold long or bullish positions amid uncertainty over the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports that President Donald Trump announced this week, due to take effect on March 12.
LME aluminium touched a three-week high on Monday when tariffs were announced.
Broker Marex said the selling was mainly centred in China, with positioning reports showing the net long on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) fell to 9,000 lots from 12,900 on Tuesday.
SHFE aluminium shed was down 0.5% at 20,575 yuan a ton.
“It’s a very tricky moment. The hard thing to judge is whether these tariffs will actually come in and if they do, how demand-destroying they will be,” Shah said.
Zinc climbed 1.8% to $2,871, lead added 0.6% to $1,991, tin gained 0.9% to $31,435 while nickel dropped 0.9% to $15,395.
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