Copper slips on concerns over AI demand, high US inventories
USO•Copper fell 0.9% to $14,352 a metric ton after reaching a two-week high, as investors weighed doubts about AI-related demand and rising US inventories. Comex-linked warehouse stocks have climbed 60% this year to 800,321 short tons.
1. Copper eases
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.9% to $14,352 a metric ton by 1040 GMT, after reaching its highest level since October 14 in the previous session. JPMorgan analyst Patrick Jones said sentiment had become “relatively more cautious rather than outright bearish.”
2. Demand and inventories
Optimism that AI data-center construction would lift copper demand helped drive prices to a September record of $14,875. Copper has also gained support from shipments to the United States ahead of possible tariffs, while inventories in warehouses linked to the Comex exchange have risen 60% this year to 800,321 short tons, or 726,039 metric tons. Jones said investors see tariff inaction as a downside risk because it could reduce US import demand and gradually return pricing power to Chinese consumers.
3. Other metals
The most-traded Shanghai copper contract fell 0.4% to close at 109,380 yuan a ton. China’s Yangshan copper premium rose to $205 a ton on Wednesday, its highest in more than a decade; LME zinc gained 0.8% to a more-than-one-month high, while aluminium and tin fell.
