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Informist, Tuesday, Jul. 15, 2025

By Ashutosh Pati

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of all base metals fell on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the London Metal Exchange Tuesday on concern about demand after US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on key trading partners such as the European Union and Mexico. Market sentiment was also hurt by a rise in inventories of the metals at warehouses registered with the LME.

Saturday, Trump had announced that the US will impose 30% tariff on goods imported from the European Union and Mexico effective Aug. 1. He had also expressed frustration with Russia's President Vladimir Putin due to the lack of progress in peace talks with Ukraine and threatened to impose 100% secondary tariffs on Russia if there is no deal with Ukraine in 50 days.

ALUMINIUM stocks at LME-accredited warehouses rose by 11,425 tonnes to 416,975 tonnes and COPPER stocks increased by 850 tonnes to 110,475 tonnes. LEAD stocks were up by 10,125 tonnes at 271,075 tonnes and ZINC inventories increased by 5,200 tonnes to 118,600 tonnes.

Moreover, "inventory data from the LME showed that requests to withdraw copper from its warehouses fell by 25,100t (tonnes), the biggest decline since March 2019. Trump's plan to impose a 50% levy on copper imports by 1 August means that traders have run out of time to seek arbitrage profits by sending metal from Europe and Asia to the US," Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at ANZ Research, said in a note.

However, the losses were limited as traders assessed mixed economic data from China, analysts said. China's industrial output rose 6.8% on year in June, beating expectations. The country's GDP expanded 5.2% on year in the second quarter, exceeding Beijing's full-year target. "This stronger-than-anticipated economic performance may ease pressure on Chinese policymakers to introduce further stimulus and could lend support to metals in the near term," Kotak Securities said in a report. China's retail sales data were weaker than expected, rising 4.8% on year in June.

At 1818 IST, on the MCX, the July futures contract of:
-–Aluminium was at INR 248.70 a kg, down 0.3%
–-Copper was at INR 880.50 a kg, down 0.2%
–-Lead was at INR 178.40 a kg, down 0.3%
–-Zinc was at INR 255.60 a kg, down 1.0%

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 246.40-INR 251.30
--Copper contract seen at INR 868.60-INR 891.60
--Lead contract seen at INR 176.80-INR 179.80
--Zinc contract seen at INR 251.60-INR 260.20

End

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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