SINGAPORE — Copper prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange and London Metal Exchange fell on Monday, pressured by concerns over US trade negotiations and uncertainty surrounding potential tariffs ahead of President Donald Trump’s July 9 deadline.
The three-month copper contract on the LME fell 0.31 percent to $9,834 per metric ton by 0103 GMT and the most-traded contract on the SHFE lost 0.91 percent to 79,440 yuan ($11,088.00) a ton.
The US is close to finalizing several trade agreements and will notify about a dozen countries of higher tariff rates starting Monday, President Donald Trump said on Sunday, with the higher rates scheduled to take effect on August 1.
“Markets are fretting that Trump’s policies could trigger a global economic slowdown and hurt demand for industrial commodities,” ANZ said.
“Copper price softening is expected also with rising copper stocks at LME and SHFE recently and the dampened consumption enthusiasm on higher prices,” a Shanghai-based metal analyst at a futures company said.
Copper inventories at SHFE-monitored warehouses gained for the first week after three by July 4, rising 3.7 percent to 84,589 tons, which is 73.7 percent lower on the year.
Total copper stocks at the LME-registered warehouses rose for four consecutive days till Friday, advancing 5 percent to 95,275 tons.
