LME Copper Price Hits $7,000/t

Copper price at London Metal Exchange (LME) marked the record at above US$ 7,000 per tonne at both spot and future prices on Tuesday. LME copper price reached US$ 7,000 in only 8 trading days after the settlement price reached US$ 6,000 for the first time on April 12.LME copper price jumped up by US$ 281 to US$ 7,147 per tonne at settlement on Tuesday from the previous day. The price marked the record for 3 trading days in a row and increased by 29% from the beginning of April. Copper spot price at New York Mercantile Exchange also soared by 19.45 cents to 340.80 cents on Tuesday from the previous day with strong inflow of speculative funds into the market.LME nickel price also marked the record on Tuesday, exceeding US$ 20,000 per tonne at settlement, when speculative funds rush into whole non-ferrous metals market. The price was supported by speculative purchasing with positive factors such as the recovery of stainless steel market and labor-management negotiations at Inco of Canada, though nickel price was not in the increasing trend as strong as copper and zinc so far.LME zinc price also marked the record under tight spot supply, surging by US$ 80 to US$ 3,360 per tonne at settlement on Tuesday from Monday. With increasing prices of copper, zinc and nickel, lead settlement price increased by US$ 15 to US$ 1,185 per tonne on the same day, aluminium by US$ 20.5 to US$ 2,728 per tonne and tin by US$ 145 to US$ 9,325 per tonne.