London copper price eases as trade tensions crimp demand expectations

MELBOURNE — London copper eased on Monday but held above a one-year low hit last week on mounting concerns that escalating trade tariff spats could dent demand, although a weaker dollar cushioned losses.

London Metal Exchange (LME) copper eased by 0.10% to $6,137 a ton by 0520 GMT, after prices last week fell for the sixth week in a row, hitting the lowest in a year at $5,988 on Thursday.

Shanghai Futures Exchange copper was up 1.1% at 48,890 yuan ($7,233) a ton.

US President Donald Trump on Friday said he was ready to impose tariffs on all $500 billion of imported goods from China, threatening to escalate a clash over trade policy that has unnerved financial markets.

China on Monday launched an anti- dumping probe into stainless steel imports worth $1.3 billion,

including from a privately owned Chinese mill with operations offshore, after complaints that a flood of product has damaged the local industry.

The International Monetary Fund warned world economic leaders on Saturday that a recent wave of trade tariffs would significantly harm global growth, a day after Mr. Trump threatened a major escalation in a dispute with China.

LME zinc surged as shorts were forced to cover and due to a shortfall of available immediate supply. LME data showed a large short holding in the futures report, while lending guidance is enforced with a single holder of more than half LME metal.

Big companies in the United States from Amazon.com, Inc. to Toyota Motor Corp. and Alcoa Corp. are working to counter the effect of the Trump administration’s

trade policies and to head off new tariffs.

Labor negotiations at Chile’s Escondida copper mine, the world’s largest, are frozen without signs of progress toward an agreement just over a week before the current contract expires.

The world refined copper market showed a 98,000-ton deficit in April, compared with a 66,000 tons surplus in March, the International Copper Study Group said.

China June scrap copper imports dropped 39.8% year on year to 200,000 tons China’s General Administration of Customs said on Monday.

Asian shares dipped on Monday on fears of more protectionist measures from the US while the dollar declined against major currencies after US President Donald Trump criticized the Federal Reserve’s tightening policy.