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Informist, Monday, Mar. 23, 2026

By Ashutosh Pati

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of copper on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the London Metal Exchange Monday pared the day's losses and were trading in the green after US President Donald Trump said the US and Iran had "very good and productive" conversations over the last two days, and that the US had postponed any military strikes against Iranian power infrastructure for five days. Aluminium contracts, however, continued to trade in the red.

"Based on the tenor and tone of these in depth, detailed, and constructive conversations, witch (sic) will continue throughout the week, I have instructed the Department of War to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions," Trump said on Truth Social, a social media platform owned by Trump Media & Technology Group.

Copper prices had slumped to a near-three-month low earlier in the day as rising energy costs due to the West Asia conflict heightened concerns about global growth and inflation. "Additionally, a stronger dollar and expectations of a prolonged higher interest rate" had further pressured prices, according to Kotak Securities.

"In aluminium, despite recent weakness, supply-side risks remain elevated, with production cuts in Bahrain and Qatar, coupled with ongoing disruptions from the Persian Gulf, tightening availability, even as demand from China remains subdued," the brokerage said.

Meanwhile, copper stocks at warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 22,337 tonnes to 411,121 tonnes in the week ended Friday while aluminium stocks rose 35,619 tonnes to 452,044 tonnes. Zinc inventories rose 4,918 tonnes to 152,266 tonnes while lead stocks fell 9,939 tonnes to 66,110 tonnes in the week ended Friday.

At 1753 IST, on the MCX, the March futures contract of:

--ALUMINIUM was at INR 329.35 a kg, down 0.6%
--Copper was at INR 1,111.40 a kg, up 0.3%
–-LEAD was at INR 188.30 a kg, up 0.2%
–-ZINC was at INR 309.15 a kg, up 0.5%

The April futures contract of NICKEL was at INR 1,570.00 a kg, up 1.1%

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 325.00-INR 331.00

--Copper contract seen at INR 1,095.00-INR 1,140.00
--Lead contract seen at INR 187.00-INR 191.00

--Zinc contract seen at INR 305.00-INR 313.00

--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,520.00-INR 1,600.00

End

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

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

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