Copper Extends Retreat as US Supply Dislocations Could End Soon

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Copper Extends Retreat as US Supply Dislocations Could End Soon.

commodities :: 2025-03-28 :: source - bloomberg

By Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Copper extended a retreat from a nine-month high on speculation that supply dislocations — fueled by the possibility of upcoming US tariffs — may end sooner than had been expected.

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After topping $10,000 earlier in the week, prices fell for a third day in London. That puts them on track for a weekly drop after Bloomberg reported the US administration aims to introduce tariffs on copper imports within weeks, instead of months as had been widely anticipated. A swift implementation would leave little time for traders to divert more metal to the US.

Commodities have been jolted this year as investors react to the US administration’s imposition of trade levies, plus the threat of many more curbs to come, including a raft of announcements due next week. President Donald Trump has ordered a probe into copper flows, ahead of which traders had been racing to shift cargoes to the US.

“Copper’s retreating quickly because the arbitrage trade to bring copper to the US is going to end quickly,” said Fan Rui, an analyst at Guoyuan Futures Co. Still, the risk of production cuts in China may limit downside, Fan added.

Copper was 0.7% lower at $9,779 a ton on the London Metal Exchange at 7:45 a.m. local time, after reaching the highest since June on Wednesday. Futures were also lower on the Comex in New York, although their year-to-date gain still outpaces the move on the LME.

Among other metals, tin spiked more than 1% on the LME after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar, a major producer. Details of any damage remained unclear.