The Zhitong Finance App learned that on Thursday, copper prices fell along with other industrial metals. Previously, AI-related stocks were sold off, taking the risk appetite out of the global market. Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) once fell 0.7% to $14,260 per ton. Major tech companies' financial reports failed to convince investors of the durability of AI trading, and the Asian stock market declined as a result. Since copper is used in data centers and power infrastructure, it has benefited from this boom until now.
The decline in copper prices from a record high of $14,875 per ton last month was also driven by another factor — the market questioned whether the US would impose tariffs on refined copper, and US President Donald Trump's second term was nearing the midpoint. Tax increases are expected to have attracted large amounts of copper into US warehouses this year, squeezing supply from other regions.
“There is still great uncertainty about the balance between copper supply and demand next year,” said Zhenting Zhou, a trader at Hangzhou Chenglian Industrial Co., “Mine supply should improve, US import demand may slow down, and China's scrap copper supply should resume. There is little risk that copper prices will rise.”
However, concerns about supply disruptions remain. Workers at Canada's largest copper mine — Highland Valley Copper (Highland Valley Copper) under TECK.US (TECK.US) — threatened a strike as early as this Saturday. This is the latest sign of labor tension: prices close to record highs make employees more motivated to seek a larger share of profits.
As of press time, LME copper was down 0.4% to $14,294.50 per tonne. Aluminum fell 0.6% to $3,023.50; nickel returned 1% — on the previous trading day, nickel prices had surged 3.7%, driven by expectations that Chinese producers would work together to cut production in Indonesia. Iron ore once fell 1.7% to $89.45 per ton in Singapore, the lowest in nearly two years, then narrowed.