White House Tariff Hesitation Sends Copper Prices Tumbling
Copper prices are poised to snap a 10-week winning streak due to uncertainty over refined copper tariffs from the White House. Despite a marginal increase on Friday, the metal has fallen more than 4% from its record high of $14,875 a metric ton hit on Thursday.
The three-month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was down about 1% for the week after falling sharply from its peak. On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most-traded copper contract dropped 2.82% to 108,580 yuan ($16,180.85) a ton and was down around 0.5% for the week.
The White House is weighing concerns that higher metal prices could increase manufacturing costs against the benefits of encouraging domestic mining, according to Reuters, which cited two people familiar with the matter. This has removed some of the tariff premium from copper prices, said ING commodities analysts in a note. As a result, shipments to the US have become uneconomical.