Traders keep diverting copper to US amid tariff threat — Reuters

According to Reuters, unusually high volume of copper supplies to the US will not decrease in the near future. The agency's experts cite the threat of import tariffs and price premiums for the metal on the US exchange COMEX, which make shipping profitable.

Since the beginning of February, copper prices have increased due to the potential introduction of tariffs. US government data shows that imports of the red metal amounted to more than 123,000 tons in March, compared to 58,000 tons in February and 76,000 tons in January. UBS Investment Research forecasts an additional supply of 250,000 to 300,000 tons of copper from March to May due to continuing uncertainty over tariffs.

While part of the metal's shipments are diverted to America from China, most of them come from the warehouses of the London Metal Exchange. Since mid-February, the exchange has registered a reduction in its copper stockpile of nearly 60%, down to 170,750 tons.

Currently, the premium for copper on COMEX is $600 per ton. However, traders still consider this level high enough to profit from redirecting the metal to the US.