Latest news with #Marex
Zawya
13-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Copper, other metals drop as investors shed risk after Israel strikes Iran
Prices of copper and other industrial metals fell on Friday, weighed down by a stronger dollar as investors sold risky assets after Israel attacked Iran. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange shed 1.3% to $9,575 a metric ton by 1010 GMT, the weakest since June 3. The dollar index climbed and world stock markets tumbled after Israel launched a large-scale military strike on Iran. A firmer dollar makes commodities priced in the U.S. currency more expensive for buyers using other currencies. "The market is de-risking on copper and aluminium," said Alastair Munro, senior base metals strategist at broker Marex. "The key now will be whether the risk managers in the USA start to knock on the money managers' door saying you've got to reduce risk ahead of the weekend." U.S. Comex copper futures dropped 1.9% to $4.74 a lb, bringing the premium of Comex over LME copper to $879 a ton. Munro said much of the selling was by Commodity Trade Advisor (CTA) investment funds, which are largely driven by computer programs, while Chinese participants emerged at the lows to do some buying. In China, the most-traded aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) gained for the third straight day, up 0.4% at 20,425 yuan per metric ton, outperforming other SHFE metals. "Aluminium, compared with the other metals, has been performing rather strongly recently as demand from the domestic market has been robust, while SHFE stocks have been declining," a Hangzhou-based analyst from a futures company said. Aluminium stocks in SHFE warehouses fell to 110,001 tons in the week ended June 13, the lowest since February 2024, having tumbled by 54% since late March. Among other metals, LME aluminium gave up 1.2% to $2,487.50 a ton, zinc fell 1.7% to $2,598.50, lead dipped 0.3% to $1,991.50, nickel slipped 0.2% to $15,165 and tin was down 0.1% to $32,600. ($1 = 7.1813 Chinese yuan)
Reuters
06-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
USDA redaction of trade analysis causes concern about report integrity
CHICAGO/WASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) - Analysts voiced concerns this week about the integrity of U.S. Department of Agriculture reports after the agency delayed a report and excluded findings that point to tariffs as a reason for a forecasted increase in the agricultural trade deficit, according to Reuters interviews with four analysts. The administration of President Donald Trump has pledged to shrink the farm trade deficit and has said tariffs will strengthen the farm economy, but farm groups have been critical of the approach. The agency's delay of a quarterly agricultural trade report and exclusion of its typical explanatory text were concerning because the moves raised questions about the objectivity of the data, two analysts said. "The trade is uneasy about USDA statistics now," said Charlie Sernatinger, head of grains with Marex, a brokerage and financial services company. A USDA spokesperson said the report was delayed by an internal review. "The report was hung up in internal clearance process and was not finalized in time for its typical deadline. Given this report is not statutory as with many other reports USDA does, the department is undergoing a review of all of its non-statutory reports, including this one, to determine next steps," the spokesperson said. The quarterly trade outlook report jointly published by the USDA's Economic Research Service and Foreign Agricultural Service was scheduled to be released on May 29. Shortly before it was set to publish, its authors were told to stop its release, according to a source familiar with the situation. The authors were then questioned by leaders at the ERS, FAS and USDA Office of the Chief Economist about the report's attribution of the growing agriculture trade deficit to tariffs and sentiments like "Buy Canadian" that have reduced demand for U.S. goods, the source said. In the delayed report released on Monday, the USDA raised its forecast of the U.S. agriculture trade deficit for fiscal-year 2025 to $49.5 billion, from the $49 billion it previously forecast in February. The version of the report published on Monday contains correct and unaltered data, the source said, but excludes explanatory text typically contained in the forecasts. The report delay and redaction were first reported by Politico. Such trade reports would typically be reviewed by communications and policy staff, but the removal of the explanatory text was highly unusual, according to a second source familiar with the report publication process. Two other analysts said they were confident in the USDA data for now, but expressed concern about how Trump's disruption of the federal government could affect future reports. "Departures of key personnel limit the ability of agencies to collect and analyze information," said Patrick Westhoff, director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri. The USDA has lost about 27% of ERS employees and 14% of FAS employees to terminations or voluntary incentives to leave the agency as the Trump administration works to reduce the size and cost of the federal government, according to Reuters reporting. The U.S. had an agricultural trade surplus for decades but in recent years, imports of high-value goods like alcohol, fruits and vegetables have driven a growing deficit, according to USDA data.
Reuters
06-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Falling LME copper stocks inflate premium for nearby contracts
LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - Concerns about the nearby supply of copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) due to falling stocks in LME-registered warehouses has created a premium for nearby contracts against those with longer maturities. The discounts for nearby LME copper contracts against longer dated forwards flipped into premiums a month ago as higher COMEX prices than on the LME continued to attract metal. The premium of the cash LME copper contract over benchmark three-month futures was last at $75 per ton after jumping to $93 on Thursday's close, highest in two and a half years. This compares with a discount of $63 in early April. "The backwardation indicates that there is some kind of a shortage. Because normally it is in contango," said Dan Smith, managing director at Commodity Market Analytics. Total copper stocks in the LME warehouse system have halved since mid-February to 132,400 tons, the lowest in almost a year. Available stocks, those not marked for delivery, at 54,600 tons are the lowest since July, 2023. The sharp move in the spread on Thursday was caused by fresh cancellations in LME stocks, said Alastair Munro, senior base metals strategist EMEA, at broker Marex. The premium eased on Friday as there were no major new cancellations of warrants, title documents that confer ownership, in Friday's data, he said, even though stocks kept on leaving the LME-registered warehouses. Fuelling worries are recent mine supply disruptions and traders diverting copper metal to the U.S. while Washington investigates the potential for import tariffs on copper. Even though there is no dominant holder of the LME copper warrants ahead of the expiry of contracts on the third Wednesday of the month - something which could concern the market, as of June 4 one party held more than 90% of copper cash contracts, helping to keep the premium elevated.
Zawya
04-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Copper inches down with focus on trade developments
Copper prices eased on Wednesday as tariff worries countered stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data, while focus stayed on U.S. President Donald Trump's trade negotiations. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 0.2% to $9,619 per metric ton in official open-outcry trading. Trump signed an executive proclamation that puts into effect from Wednesday his surprise announcement last week that he was taking the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that had been in place since March to 50% from 25%. Wednesday is also when the White House would like trading partners to submit their proposals for deals that might help them avoid Trump's hefty "Liberation Day" tariffs from taking effect in five weeks. Providing support, the U.S. dollar wobbled, making metals more affordable for holders of other currencies. Meanwhile, job openings, a measure of labor demand, rose 191,000 to 7.391 million by the last day of April, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Tuesday. "Yesterday's JOLTS, which was better than expected, leaves markets surprised by the resilience of the U.S. economy," said Alastair Munro at broker Marex. LME copper also benefited from continued outflows from LME-registered warehouses. LME's daily data showed inventory fell to 141,350 tons, a near one-year low, after 2,500 were delivered out. The latest metal tariffs have renewed focus on the ongoing U.S. investigation into potential new copper import duties, aimed at boosting domestic production. This has pushed COMEX copper prices above LME levels, prompting traders to reroute copper supplies to the U.S. to take advantage of the price gap. LME tin gained 2% to $32,000, aluminium firmed 0.5% to $2,475.5 a ton, zinc slipped 0.1% to $2,705, nickel was up 0.3% to $15,480, and lead inched up 0.1% to $1,987. (Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
Business Recorder
04-06-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Copper inches up; focus on trade developments
Copper prices edged higher on Wednesday, helped by stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data, even as investors stayed cautious amid ongoing trade negotiations. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.1% to $9,643.5 per metric ton by 0945 GMT. Providing support, the U.S. dollar slipped, making metals more affordable for holders of other currencies. 'Yesterday's JOLTS, which was better than expected, leaves markets surprised by the resilience of the U.S. economy,' said Alastair Munro at broker Marex. Job openings, a measure of labor demand, rose 191,000 to 7.391 million by the last day of April, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Trump signed an executive proclamation that puts into effect from Wednesday his surprise announcement last week that he was taking the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that had been in place since March to 50% from 25%. Wednesday is also when the White House would like trading partners to submit their proposals for deals that might help them avoid Trump's hefty 'Liberation Day' tariffs from taking effect in five weeks. Copper falls as China's factory activity misses expectations LME copper also benefited from continued outflows from LME-registered warehouses. LME's daily data showed inventory fell to 141,350 tons, a near one-year low, after 2,500 were delivered out. The latest metal tariffs have renewed focus on the ongoing U.S. investigation into potential new copper import duties, aimed at boosting domestic production. This has pushed COMEX copper prices above LME levels, prompting traders to reroute copper supplies to the U.S. to take advantage of the price gap. LME tin gained 3% to $32,300, aluminium firmed 0.8% to $2,483.5 a ton, zinc rose 0.4% to $2,717.5, nickel was up 0.2% to $15,465, and lead inched down 0.1% to $1,984.5.
