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Copper extended declines to the lowest level in more than three months as the Middle East war sapped risk appetite across financial markets and raised concerns about global inflation and growth.<\/p>\n
The red metal fell as much as 1.8% on the London Metal Exchange, following a drop of 6.7% last week, the steepest since April 2025. The war, now in its fourth week, has pushed oil and gas prices higher, threatening to hurt economic activity worldwide and fueling inflation that will likely force central banks to take a more hawkish stance on interest rates.<\/p>\n
\u201cCopper prices haven\u2019t reached a bottom yet,\u201d as the market is pricing in the prospect of recession and inflation, said Yan Yuhao, senior analyst with Zhejiang Hailiang a major Chinese producer of copper tubes and rods.<\/p>\n
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Meanwhile, a drop below 100 000 yuan ($14 485) a ton on the Shanghai Futures Exchange has prompted \u201csignificant\u201d purchases from Chinese fabricators that are seeing full orders into next month, according to Yan. That Chinese demand resilience will support domestic copper prices in outperforming LME prices, he added.<\/p>\n
Copper fell 0.7% to $11 840 a ton on the LME as of 10:00 a.m. in Shanghai. Other base metals were mostly lower, with aluminium down 0.4% to $3 201.50 a ton. Copper was down 2% to 92,930 yuan a ton on SHFE.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Bloomberg<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n