Copper prices fell on Monday as rising inventories and the end of a strike at a major Chilean mine eased supply concerns.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.4% at US$14,342 ($20,558) a tonne by 16:00 GMT.
Available copper stocks in LME-registered warehouses rose to a two-month high of 147,450 tonnes after 8,225 tonnes of inflows into US warehouses, daily exchange data showed.
Copper inventories outside the US have declined in recent months as traders diverted shipments to the country ahead of potential tariffs on refined copper imports, helping prices to a record high of US$14,875 a tonne on 10 September.
Deutsche Bank’s head of metals research, Daniel Ghali, said the threat of US tariffs is part of a broader strategic shift driven by national security concerns over concentrated critical minerals supply chains rather than a one-off policy risk.
Even if tariff concerns were removed, transportation costs and market friction would continue to discourage large-scale exports from the US, he added in a note.
Copper was the top choice for the industrial metal with the best outlook for higher prices, attendees at the LME seminar said on Monday. Tin was in second place followed by aluminium and nickel.
In top metals consumer China, meanwhile, economic growth bounced off three-year lows in the third quarter owing to higher exports. The country’s property market, however, remains in a downturn.
On the supply side, workers at Antofagasta’s Centinela mine ended a strike that began on 7 October.
Among other LME metals, aluminium added 0.7% to US$3,021.50 a tonne. China’s primary aluminium production hit a record quarterly high over July to September as smelters maintained high operating rates despite a government-imposed capacity ceiling.
In other metals, zinc rose 0.8% to US$3,721 a tonne while lead edged up 0.3% to US$1,894.50. An industry body expects a surplus in both of these markets in 2027.
Tin gained 1% to US$50,860 and nickel rose by 1.3% to US$15,555.
(Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by David Goodman and Diti Pujara)
Main image: Unsplash
