Prices of copper, other metals slip after Trump's tariff threat to China

The price of copper and other base metals slipped on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump threatened more tariffs on China, disappointing inve­stors keen on a trade deal.

While Trump said in a speech that a phase-one trade deal was close, the market focused on his comments about raising tariffs on Chinese goods “very substantially” if a deal failed to be agreed upon.

“It raised the level of uncertainty again, coming at a time when the market’s been in risk-on, happy-days mode for the past month,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen.

“If you look at copper, it’s breaking down a bit. We’ve had this uptrend since the start of October, but we failed to break above $6,000 and the 200-day moving average.” 

Last week, copper touched $6,011 a tonne, the highest in more than three months, after gaining about 8 per cent since the start of October. Hansen said traders were focusing on support at $5,800, a key technical level.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) shed 0.3 per cent to $5,850 a tonne in official open-outcry trading after touching $5,830, the lowest since November 1. It was on track to fall for a fourth straight session.