SHANGHAI, – Copper prices dipped on Tuesday as traders rolled forward-positions in anticipation of expiry and attention shifted towards the unfolding developments around U.S. efforts to end Moscow’s nearly three-year conflict in Ukraine.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 eased 0.1% to $9,382 a metric ton by 0140 GMT. The contract hit the highest in three months on Friday at $9,684.50.
“If the discussions between U.S. and Russia proceed favorably, the likelihood of lifting the ban on metals sourced from Russia will increase, subsequently leading to an influx of Russian metals into the western market,” a trader said.
Russia is a major producer of aluminium, nickel and copper. The LME banned supplies of Russian metals made after April 2024 to its system last year.
Senior U.S. and Russian officials will meet in Saudi Arabia later in the day for the highest-level in-person discussions between the nations in years, ahead of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The spread between the cash LME copper contract and benchmark three-month futures
spiked to a premium on Friday for the first time in 19 months, surging to as much as $249 a ton.
It flipped to a discount of $74.5 on the day, after investors and traders finished rolling forward positions ahead of a contract expiry this week.
Meanwhile, three sources told Reuters on Saturday that the U.S. has proposed taking ownership of 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals.
Aluminium on the LME fell 0.2% to $2,639.5 a ton, zinc slid 0.5% to $2,857, tin gained 0.1% to $32,705, lead lost 0.4% to $1,983.5 and nickel shed 0.4% to $15,435.
SHFE aluminium slid 0.4% to 20,635 yuan a ton, SHFE copper slid 1% to 76,730 yuan, nickel was flat at 123,980 yuan, zinc gained 0.2% to 23,860 yuan, lead was flat at 17,140 yuan and tin slipped 0.2% to 262,840 yuan.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
