Copper prices climb as traders welcome tariff reprieve

Copper prices rose on Monday after US President Donald Trump handed out exemptions to his punishing tariffs on some products, lifting market sentiment.

Trump paused import levies on a suite of consumer electronics — including smartphones and memory chips — late on Friday. Still, by Sunday, he was pledging to apply different, specific tariffs to phones, computers and other popular consumer electronics.

On the COMEX, copper for May delivery rose to $4.623 per lb. ($10,171/tonne) in morning trade. Meanwhile, the red metal traded 0.5% higher at $9,195 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

China’s March trade data, released Monday, showed that metals exporters front-loaded shipments in anticipation of worsening trade frictions in the last full month before the US tariffs take effect.

Steel exports rose 5.7% to a five-month high, while aluminum remained steady despite the withdrawal of China’s export tax rebate in December. Meanwhile, iron ore imports dropped 6.7%. Purchases of unwrought copper also slipped after cargoes were diverted to profit from higher prices in the US.

Who controls the future of copper mining?

MINING.COM and The Northern Miner mapped global copper production through a geopolitical lens, dividing the world into five “spheres of control”: American, Chinese, Russian, Coalition of the Willing, and Undrafted.

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