O’Shea highlights the potential impact of the Trump administration’s focus on domestic resource independence and the importance of refining capacity in the U.S. Highland Copper aims to reach a construction decision for its Copperwood asset by the end of 2025
Source – KITCO News / Video
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
The metal is showing strong upside potential, with the next target range between $34.87 and $35.40. However, traders should remain cautious as silver is currently well above key support levels at $32.53 and the 50-day moving average at $31.75.
Source – FXEMPIRE
Chilean state miner Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer, is targeting production of 1.391 million metric tons of the red metal this year, according to an unpublished government decree approving its 2025 budget reviewed by Reuters.
In calculating its budget, Codelco forecast a copper price of $4.30 per pound and expects a cash cost of $1.98 per pound, the document showed.
Source – Reuters
“There is incredible demand for physical gold in New York markets,” said Peter Spina, president and founder of gold news and information provider GoldSeek.com., referring to it as a “physical gold rush.”
“Those who are caught short physical metal are looking around and seeing a window closing here,” he said. They’re “desperately seeking physical metal before the price could jump overnight.”
“Meeting a surge in demand will always stretch capacity, but London vaults have been working overtime to service this London-New York flow,”
Source – Market Watch
As the threat of a trade war grows, Canadian investors are seeking protection in gold and in shares of companies producing goods with few substitutes, such as uranium, while looking to take advantage of a weaker loonie and expected volatility.
“Tariffs are going to hurt all parties quite a bit but if you’re going to spare some industries, you probably spare industries that you don’t have a substitute for and are currently reliant on,” said Ben Jang, a portfolio manager at Nicola Wealth, noting U.S. dependence on Canadian oil, critical minerals and uranium.
Major producers of uranium include TSX-listed Cameco Corp (CCO.TO)shares of which Nicola Wealth owns. Cameco has pulled back from an all-time high in December but has still managed to advance roughly 46% since early September.
Source – Reuters
Arizona Sonoran Copper Company has successfully closed a public offering, raising C$51.75m ($37.6m) through the issuance of 25,875,000 common shares.
This includes 3.3 million shares from the full exercise of the over-allotment option by underwriters. Priced at C$2 per share, the offering is a strategic move to secure financial stability for the company’s upcoming projects.
Source – Mining Technology