Hoarding psychology pushes COMEX copper prices up sharply
At the end of the trading week, the price of metal commodities was mixed with green and red. At the end of the trading session on Friday, COMEX copper prices recorded a weekly increase of nearly 11%, reaching 12,356 USD/ton. Meanwhile, LME copper prices lost more than 2%, falling to 9,661 USD/ton.
According to MXV, since late February of this year, after US President Donald Trump directed the Department of Commerce to open an investigation into copper imports for national security reasons, a wave of hoarding has occurred strongly in the US. COMEX copper prices have set many increasing chains and record highs. Most recently, on July 9, Mr. Trump suddenly announced that he would impose a 50% tax on all imported copper from August 1, making copper prices even more expensive.
The United States imports nearly half of the copper — a metal widely used in machinery, electronics, household goods, and construction — that it consumes.
Earlier on Tuesday (July 8), copper prices in the US increased by 13%, marking the strongest increase since 1989, closing at a record of 12,445 USD/ton. Meanwhile, copper prices on the LME in London increased by only 0.3%.
The difference between the price of copper on the COMEX floor and the price of copper on the LME in the trading session on Friday (July 11) was up to 26.7%, equivalent to more than 2,600 USD/ton.
By August this year, when the US's 50% tariff on copper takes effect, US consumers could be paying $15,000 a tonne for copper, while the rest of the world will pay $10,000 a tonne, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.
On the other hand, copper demand in the US is still under pressure from the high interest rate environment and the continuous contraction of production activities since March. The US Federal Reserve (Fed) has maintained high interest rates in the range of 4.25-4.5% since December 2024, causing the USD to strengthen, making copper more expensive for foreign investors, which has curbed demand, thereby putting pressure on prices. In addition, last June, the US manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) reached 49 points, continuing to record the fourth consecutive month of decline, reflecting the prolonged contraction of domestic industrial production activities. This contributed to hindering the increase in copper prices.
On the Vietnamese side, according to data from the International Trade Center (ITC), in 2024, our country only exported about 14.7 tons of scrap copper and 42.8 tons of refined copper to the US. This export volume accounts for a very small proportion of Vietnam's total copper export turnover, showing that the level of dependence on the US market is insignificant. Therefore, the high tax rate that the US has just announced is unlikely to significantly affect Vietnam's copper export activities in the near future.
The past trading week witnessed overwhelming selling pressure in the agricultural market when all 7 items in this group weakened simultaneously. Of which, corn prices decreased by 5.7% compared to the end of last week to 155.9 USD/ton.
According to MXV, the prospect of abundant supply while the impacts from tariff policies have caused market demand to remain uncertain has caused prices of this commodity to drop sharply last week.
Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/gia-dong-comex-tang-vot-thi-truong-nong-san-chim-sau-trong-sac-do-102250714090552551.htm
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