Copper edges up as tight LME stocks counter lower China imports, Mideast tensions

Copper prices nudged up on Tuesday, as dwindling London Metal Exchange inventories helped it shrug off pressure from concerns about Middle East tensions, inflation, and lower China imports. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.48% to $13,681.5 a metric ton by 0702 GMT. The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged up 0.56% to 104,650 yuan ($15,452.42) a ton. Traders have been shipping the red metal to the U.S. from LME warehouses, with the Donald Trump administration expected to decide on copper import tariffs at the end of June. Elsewhere, data released on Tuesday from top consumer China showed a marked decline in imports of unwrought copper this year, which capped price gains. For the first five months of 2026, China imported 2.01 million tons of unwrought copper and copper products, down 7% from a year earlier. The Yangshan copper premium , which reflects demand for imported copper, stood at $64 a ton on Monday, its lowest since April 28. The market will closely watch the release of U.S. CPI data for May on Wednesday. "If inflation comes in above expectations, the market will price an increased likelihood of the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates," Craig Lang, principal analyst at CRU, said. "I would expect copper and other risk assets to react negatively to that event," he said. Oil dipped 1.16%, close to levels before an exchange of strikes between Iran and Israel over the weekend saw them surge. High energy costs dampen hopes for growth-dependent industrial metals. Among other LME metals, aluminium added 0.19%, zinc gained 0.81%, lead increased 0.35%, nickel rose 0.21% and tin gained 0.84%. Elsewhere on SHFE, aluminium ticked 0.08% higher, zinc added 0.26%, lead lost 1.25%, nickel lost 1.14% and tin increased 0.74%. ($1 = 6.7724 Chinese yuan renminbi)