Copper Rises to Three-Month High on China Manufacturing Rebound

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(Bloomberg) -- Copper rose to a three-month high, boosted by buying toward the close of trading in China, on signs factory activity is recovering in the world’s second-largest economy.

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The three-month contract on the London Metal Exchange climbed as much as 1.3% to $10,000 a ton on Tuesday, aligned with gains seen in the final hour of trading in Shanghai.

An improvement in Chinese manufacturing last month suggests the top copper consumer is benefiting from a truce in the trade-war with the US.

“It has been a China bid which has really spurred the moves today,” said Al Munro, an analyst at Marex Group. “Regardless of any speculation around the state of the macro, the flows and data this desk observes remain positive.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg TV on Monday that Washington’s negotiations with Beijing would focus first on reciprocal tariffs, and only “later” on duties on copper and other raw materials.

A delayed decision on tariffs would justify a premium on US copper, giving traders a longer window to ship the metal to American warehouses before levies take effect. This could further tighten supplies in other markets.

For now, though, there are signs that the worst of a supply squeeze in London is over, with key spreads softening on the LME. The so-called Tom/next spread, which is the cost of rolling a short cash position overnight, has eased significantly after surging last week to the highest since 2021.

LME copper settled 0.7% higher at 9,934 a ton in London, while nickel and aluminum were little changed.

--With assistance from Charlie Zhu and Winnie Zhu.