Base metals on the London Metal Exchange were a mixed picture during morning trading on Tuesday May 22, with copper prices climbing 1% while zinc and tin edged lower.
Reaching a high of $6,959 per tonne over the morning, copper's three-month price is edging towards the $7,000 per tonne support level. The red metal's recent price rise has been buoyed by strong demand from China, in addition to an easing of trade tension concerns after the United States and China's most recent talks avoided further tariffs. "Although the fundamentals of the copper market are supportive over the long term, we see only limited upward pressure in the remainder of the second quarter and early in the third quarter, principally owing to a weaker-than-expected seasonal rebound in China's copper demand following by usually poor demand in the summer months," Metal Bulletin analyst Boris Mikanikrezai said. "At the macro level, the current short-covering rally in...