|

U.S. Copper tariffs cause relocation of metal

ByVictoria

U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened tariff on copper imports has generated a mass relocation of physical metal, swamping the U.S. market and draining the rest of the world.

The physical response has been so powerful that it has caused the futures arbitrage between the CME contract and the London Metal Exchange (LME) price to collapse.

CME copper inventory has risen by 81% since the start of the year and is now at an eight-year high of 168,563 short tons (152,919 metric tons).

LME copper inventory has slumped to a one-year low of 179,375 tons, with 40% of what remains awaiting physical load-out.

China’s imports of refined copper fell 5% on a year-over-year basis and 20% on a quarter-over-quarter basis in the January-March period as metal was diverted to the U.S.

Source – Reuters

Similar Posts

  • / /

    Gold falls, trade war fears continue

    ByVictoria
    0 Comments

    Spot gold fell 0.6% to $2,934.99 an ounce as of 09:55 a.m. (1455 GMT), after reaching $2,956.15 on Monday.

    U.S. gold futures declined 0.5% to $2,948.60.

    Trump said on Monday that tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports were “on time and on schedule”

    “I still think that there’s enough uncertainty out there associated with tariffs (and) trade more generally… dips are going to continue to be viewed as buying opportunities,” said Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals.

    Spot silver shed 1.2% to $31.96 an ounce, platinum dropped 0.8% to $959.35 and palladium lost 0.8% to $932.50.

    Source – Reuters

  • /

    Gold breaks $2900 per ounce

    ByVictoria
    0 Comments

    Gold has surged to a new all-time high, breaking through $2,911.72 per ounce on a thick mix of domestic and foreign uncertainty, inflation concerns, and a shifting macroeconomic landscape. While bullion has historically served as a safe-haven asset, the latest rally is not merely a reaction to market turbulence, but instead to a confluence of economic and financial factors that reinforce its role in global portfolios.

    Source – Seeking Alpha / American Institute for Economic Research / Written by Peter C. Earle

  • /

    Barrick Gold plans to change name

    ByVictoria
    0 Comments

    Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) said Monday it plans to change its name to Barrick Mining, subject to shareholder approval at its upcoming annual meeting on May 6.

    The company expects to change its NYSE ticker symbol from GOLD to B, effective at the start of trading on May 9; Barrick (NYSE:GOLD) common shares will continue to trade under the ABX symbol on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

    Source – Seeking Alpha

  • /

    Glencores copper shipments suspended

    ByVictoria
    0 Comments

    Glencore has suspended production and declared force majeure on copper shipments from its Altonorte smelter in Chile due to an issue affecting the plant’s furnace, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, in a setback that comes just as traders and producers race to ship more metal to the U.S. ahead of tariffs.

    Much of the copper produced in Chile is shipped to the U.S., where Comex prices have surged to record highs on worries about shortages due to tariffs; the most active Comex copper contract (HG1:COM) for May delivery hit $5.374/lb, or $11,847/metric ton on Wednesday.

    Source – Seeking Alpha

  • /

    President Trump said he will impose tariffs on aluminum and copper

    ByVictoria
    0 Comments

    “We have to bring production back to our country,” he said.

    “In the US, manufacturers will have little choice but to pass on higher costs from imports to consumers until the downstream industry (refining/smelting) has undergone suitable investment,” said Natalie Scott-Gray, senior metals analyst at StoneX.

    “If Trump imposes tariffs, it will have an adverse impact particularly on aluminum because Europe is already on path to impose a carbon tax and the UK might do it too,” said B.K. Bhatia, additional secretary general at the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries.

    Source – Mining.com

  • /

    Platinum supply and demand forecast

    ByVictoria
    0 Comments

    Platinum demand outpaced supply by 995,000 ounces last year. That was 46 percent higher than forecast.

    Meanwhile, platinum jewelry sales grew by 8 percent in 2024, and investment demand took off, rising by 77 percent.

    The WPIC forecasts that jewelry demand will reach 2 million ounces this year, an increase of 2 percent year-on-year.

    Source – Money Metals