Copper prices fall amid uncertainty over US trade talks

Copper prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange and London Metal Exchange fell on Monday, pressured by concerns over U.S. trade negotiations and uncertainty surrounding potential tariffs ahead of President Donald Trump's July 9 deadline.

The three-month copper contract HG1! on the LME fell 0.68% to $9,797 per metric ton, as of 0707 GMT, and the most-traded contract HG1! on the SHFE lost 1.12% to 79,270 yuan ($11,051.78) a ton.

The U.S. is close to finalising several trade agreements and will notify about a dozen countries of higher tariff rates starting Monday, Trump said on Sunday, with the higher rates scheduled to take effect on August 1.

"Markets are fretting that Trump's policies could trigger a global economic slowdown and hurt demand for industrial commodities," ANZ said.

"Copper price softening is expected also with rising copper stocks at LME and SHFE recently and the dampened consumption enthusiasm on higher prices," a Shanghai-based metal analyst at a futures company said.

Copper inventories (CU-STX-SGH) at SHFE-monitored warehouses gained for the first week after three by July 4, rising 3.7% to 84,589 tons, which was 73.7% lower on the year.

Total copper stocks (MCUSTX-TOTAL) at the LME-registered warehouses rose for four consecutive days till Friday, advancing 5% to 95,275 tons.

SHFE tin FTIN1! slumped 2.03% to 263,520 yuan a ton, nickel NICKEL1! fell 1.6% to 120,540 yuan, zinc ZNC1! receded 1.16% to 22,090 yuan, aluminium ALI1! lost 1.11% to 20,410 yuan and lead LEAD1! shed 0.35% to 17,210 yuan.

LME tin FTIN1! shed 1.36% to $33,245, nickel NICKEL1! dropped 1.3% to $15,090, aluminium went down 1.14% to $2,560.5, zinc ZNC1! fell 0.95% to $2,698, and lead LEAD1! ebbed 0.78% to $2,042.5.

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($1 = 7.1726 Chinese yuan)