Copper Prices Edge Up but Demand Wanes Amid High Prices
Copper prices continued their upward trend on Wednesday, but remained below yesterday's highs as high prices started to weigh on demand.
The benchmark three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose by 0.18% to $14,091.5 per metric ton.
The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased by 0.96% to 107,340 yuan ($15,908.82) per ton, surpassing a two-month high and breaking above the psychological level of $14,000 per ton for the first time since early June.
The red metal's price increase is attributed to waning inventories, with total copper stocks on LME-registered warehouses falling by nearly 40% since the end of May. The US also imported more than 200,000 tons of copper in July, the largest monthly inflow since 2014.
However, high copper prices are starting to impact demand, particularly in China, where physical demand is reflected in the LME cash-to-three-month spread, which was in a backwardation of $102.38 per ton.