Copper Retreats From Record High as Tariff-Driven Flows Lose Steam

Copper prices retreated for a second day in New York on Thursday, shedding 0.5% to $6.5645 per pound ($14,470 per tonne) after hitting a record high of $6.7775 just the day before.

The decline brings the retreat from Wednesday's peak to around 3%, and comes as attention turns from tariff-driven flows that carried prices to records this week to the state of demand on the ground in China, the metal's largest consumer.

Data out of China showed profits at industrial firms rose 11.2% in July from a year earlier, slowing from June's 15.1% pace and pointing to an uneven economy with electronics and raw materials producers driving growth while consumer-facing sectors lagged.

For copper bulls, the numbers serve as a reminder that this month's surge has been powered less by end-use demand than by the reshuffling of metal ahead of US import duties that have pulled inventory into American warehouses at the expense of the rest of the world.