Quick overview

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President Donald Trump’s unexpected decision to exempt refined forms of copper from high US import tariffs caused market instability, and copper was heading for a weekly decline in London.

 

The industrial metal was down 1.4 percent for the week on the London Metal Exchange despite a slight rise on Friday.

Copper prices have fallen more than 20% this week in the US, where traders had been transferring large amounts of copper ahead of the tariffs. Starting Friday, Trump imposed 50% tariffs on semi-finished copper products, including pipes, wires, rods, sheets, and tubes.

However, less-processed forms of the metal, such as concentrates, cathodes, and ore, were exempt. The large premium that New York futures had over London disappeared in response.

Now, traders are scrambling to reserve copper storage space, hoping Trump’s decision will cause a surge of supplies, which have been stored in the US, to be moved to LME warehouses. Storage facilities for the metal, under the supervision of the Shanghai Futures Exchange, Comex, and the LME.