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Informist, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026

By Ashutosh Pati

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of most base metals rose on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the London Metal Exchange Tuesday as Chinese markets reopened after the long Lunar New Year holidays. Market sentiment was also lifted on expectations of lower US tariffs, according to analysts.

COPPER prices briefly rose to around $13,200 per tonne on the LME, reversing previous session losses, Kotak Securities said in a report. "Optimism followed the US Supreme Court's decision to strike down reciprocal tariffs, with the administration proposing a revised 15% global levy that may result in a comparatively lower effective burden on China's metal-intensive exports," the brokerage said.

However, higher prices have begun to weigh on physical demand in China, pushing exchange-tracked inventories to their highest levels since 2024. Stockpiles in both London and New York have also continued to rise, it added.

"Base metal prices have risen in response to the new US tariff uncertainty. This may be partly due to a weaker US dollar. However, renewed fears about the introduction of sectoral tariffs could also be playing a role,"  Thu Lan Nguyen, head of FX and commodity research at Commerzbank AG, said in a report.

Last week, the US Supreme Court struck down Trump's original slate of tariffs, in response to which Trump imposed a new 10% global levy under another trade law provision before increasing that to 15% on Saturday.

Washington had already warned in the run-up to the court ruling that there were other ways to levy tariffs, Nguyen said. "For example, the decision does not affect sectoral tariffs, such as those on steel, aluminium, and copper. It is, therefore, conceivable that the US government will extend these," she added. This could mean that refined copper could also be subject to higher tariff in the future, which was already planned in the analysis by the US Department of Commerce from 2027 onwards.

Companies in the US could once again increase their copper imports to build their inventories fearing such an expansion of tariffs, Nguyen said. This would reduce supply of the metal outside the US and in turn push up copper prices on the LME, she added.

At 1653 IST, on the MCX, the March futures contract of:

--ALUMINIUM was at INR 311.10 a kg, down 0.2%
--Copper was at INR 1,199.70 a kg, up 0.2%
–-LEAD was steady at INR 188.65 a kg
–-ZINC was at INR 327.95 a kg, up 0.5%

The March futures contract of NICKEL was at INR 1,578.90 a kg, up 0.7%

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 308.00-INR 314.00

--Copper contract seen at INR 1,180.00-INR 1,220.00
--Lead contract seen at INR 187.00-INR 190.00

--Zinc contract seen at INR 324.00-INR 331.00

--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,560.00-INR 1,605.00

End

US$1 = INR 90.95

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

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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