Copper cools as LME inflows stem stock fears

Elsewhere, markets were watching the Middle East war. There were no reports of fresh strikes between the U.S. and Iran on Tuesday after a temporary ceasefire agreement expired with no longer-term peace agreement on Monday.

The war has buffeted industrial metals and the global economy by pushing up oil prices and raising interest rate bets, and has disrupted the supply of aluminium from big producers in the region.

Crude oil LCOc1 was firm on Wednesday, but below its wartime peak, and interest rate traders shrugged off inflationary concerns from the impasse, with rate hike expectations little changed, according to the CME's FedWatch tool.

Aluminium was mixed on Wednesday, rising 0.08% on the LME CMAL3 and falling 1.07% on the SHFE SAFcv1. Wartime price support has faded on expectations of production restarts in the Middle East, and suppliers have turned to alternative shipping routes to avoid disruption.

Among LME metals, zinc CMZN3 dipped 0.11%, lead CMPB3 dipped 0.16%, nickel CMNI3 ticked 0.11% higher and tin CMSN3 dipped 0.19%.

Among SHFE metals, zinc SZNcv1 lost 1.46%, lead SPBcv1 added 0.31%, nickel SNIcv1 lost 0.36% and tin SSNcv1 lost 1.21%.

Copper prices dipped on Wednesday as a jump in warehouse stocks at the London Metal Exchange pushed supply fears that have supported prices into the background.

Benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 on the LME was down 0.32% at $13,942 a metric ton by 0700 GMT. The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SCFcv1 fell 1.05% to 106,850 yuan ($15,857.82) a ton.

Copper was "tripped up" after a surprising increase in inventories on the LME, Marex consultant Ed Meir wrote in a note.

Data from the LME on Tuesday and Monday showed total copper stocks MCUSTX-TOTAL on the exchange rose by nearly 20,000 tons, as big shipments were delivered into warehouses.