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Informist, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025

By Ashutosh Pati

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of copper and aluminium on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the London Metal Exchange were steady Friday as market participants are waiting for the US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium later in the day.

Copper prices rose earlier in the day due to firm demand from China, analysts said. Demand for the metal in China is estimated to have grown by around 7.5% in the first six months of the year, according to the International Copper Study Group. China accounts for around 58% of the global demand for copper. "On the MCX, copper briefly tested 880/kg (INR 880 per kg) before paring gains...," Kotak Securities said in a note.

Meanwhile, the surplus in the global refined copper market fell to 251,000 tonnes in the first six months of 2025 from a surplus of 395,000 tonnes in the corresponding period last year, according to the International Copper Study Group. Global refined copper production rose over 3% on year to 14.2 million tonnes in Jan-Jun while consumption rose around 5% on year to nearly 14 million tonnes, the report said.

"Refined copper for now is exempt from tariffs, so I don't think there's going to be much of a dent in demand for copper in general, and Chinese demand for copper remains fairly healthy," Reuters quoted Nitesh Shah, commodity strategist at WisdomTree as saying.

At 1828 IST, on the MCX, the August futures contract of:
-–Aluminium was steady at INR 250.15 a kg
–-Copper was steady at INR 877.30 a kg

–-Lead was at INR 179.80 a kg, up 0.3%
–-Zinc was at INR 265.35 a kg, up 0.1%

The September futures contract of nickel was steady at INR 1,321.00

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 245.80-INR 252.30
--Copper contract seen at INR 861.50-INR 881.60
--Lead contract seen at INR 178.10-INR 181.10
--Zinc contract seen at INR 260.10-INR 268.80

--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,305.00-INR 1,340.00

End

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

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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