Industrial Metal Prices Jump

Copper has risen nearly 10 per cent since the start of 2024 and hit a 15-month high of $9,523 per metric tonne on Tuesday. (Photo by Reuters)
Copper has risen nearly 10 per cent since the start of 2024 and hit a 15-month high of $9,523 per metric tonne on Tuesday. (Photo by Reuters)
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Industrial Metal Prices Jump

Copper has risen nearly 10 per cent since the start of 2024 and hit a 15-month high of $9,523 per metric tonne on Tuesday. (Photo by Reuters)
Copper has risen nearly 10 per cent since the start of 2024 and hit a 15-month high of $9,523 per metric tonne on Tuesday. (Photo by Reuters)

Industrial metals including copper and zinc have outperformed global stocks this year as signs of a revival in demand from Chinese manufacturers add to concerns over tighter global supply.

An index tracking the performance of six industrial metals on the London Metal Exchange has climbed 8 per cent since the start of 2024, outpacing a 6.3 per cent rise for MSCI’s index of worldwide stocks, The Financial Times reported.

The index, which also includes lead, aluminium, tin and nickel, has risen sharply this month as investors grow more confident that an extended period of high global interest rates, intended to curb inflation, will not choke off economic growth.

At the same time, analysts have raised concerns that production snags from miners will constrain supplies. “Hopes for a global recovery in demand this year are supporting higher prices for industrial metals,” said Ewa Manthey, a commodities strategist at ING.

Traders have also welcomed the first signs of returning demand from China, whose economic performance has sputtered since it came out of its tough-line coronavirus policies in December 2022.

The latest Chinese purchasing managers’ index, published at the end of March, signalled an expansion in factory activity in March for the first time since September. Copper has risen nearly 10 per cent since the start of 2024 and hit a 15-month high of $9,523 per metric tonne on Tuesday.

The metal, which has a wide range of uses including in construction, power lines and electric vehicles, is widely seen as a key barometer of global economic health.

The gains have come as analysts fret over the impact of tighter supplies from miners.

In March, Chinese copper smelters, which process more than half of the world’s supplies of the red metal, agreed to embark on rare joint production cuts in order to cope with the shortage of raw materials, although no final deal has yet been reached.

Morgan Stanley now expects mined copper output to fall 0.7 per cent this year.



Gold Extends Gains as Trump Tariffs Fuel Safe Haven Flows

Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
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Gold Extends Gains as Trump Tariffs Fuel Safe Haven Flows

Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
Gold bars from the vault of a bank are seen in this illustration picture taken in Zurich November 20, 2014. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo

Gold prices rose for a second straight session on Tuesday, but traded below the recent all-time highs, as uncertainty around US President Donald Trump's tariff plans continued to fuel economic growth concerns and safe haven flows into bullion.

Spot gold gained 0.6% at $2,913.79 an ounce as of 0714 GMT. It hit a record high of $2,942.70 last week.

US gold futures added 0.9% to $2,925.50.

"Trump's disruptive modus operandi, aggressive rhetoric and tariffs - whether actual or threatened - could unravel global trade and intricate supply chains," said Nikos Tzabouras, senior financial writer at trading platform Tradu, Reuters reported.

"With uncertainty surrounding the global economy and the broader geopolitical landscape in the Trump 2.0 era, gold is set to remain a natural beneficiary of risk-off flows and central bank buying."

Since taking office last month, Trump has swiftly redrawn the global trade battlefield with a series of tariffs, while plans are already in motion for sweeping reciprocal tariffs, aimed squarely at any nation that taxes US products.

"Gold continues to benefit from the uncertainty surrounding the US. government's tariff policy. Central bank buying should also continue to provide support, even if there is no new data on this," Commerzbank analysts said in a note.

The market's focus has now shifted to the US Federal Reserve's January meeting minutes due on Wednesday for clues into the central bank's interest rate trajectory.

"Price gains are also supported by growing expectations that the Fed will cut rates in 2025 - a sentiment that gained further traction among traders after last week's disappointing US retail sales figures," Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at brokerage firm ActivTrades, said.

Bullion benefits from geopolitical and economic uncertainties, as well as rising price pressures, but higher interest rates diminish the asset's allure.

Spot silver fell 0.9% to $32.50 an ounce. Platinum jumped 0.9% to $985.20 and palladium climbed 1.6% to $978.00.