London copper eases on rising LME stocks, demand worries

London copper prices fell on Monday, as warehouse inventories rose and concerns about high energy prices took hold. The benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange slipped 0.56% to $14,242.5 per metric ton. Copper stocks in LME warehouses hit their highest level since July last week, following a surge of deposits into LME-registered warehouses, primarily located in North America.

The potential imposition of a tariff on US imports of refined copper has pulled the metal into the US market, thinning inventories elsewhere and driving up the LME copper price to a record high of $14,875 per ton on September 11. Alastair Munro, a senior metals strategist at Marex, noted that macroeconomic concerns and expectations of a shift in metal demand towards the US contribute to a bearish outlook on copper.

Meanwhile, oil prices began the week lower but stayed high due to Yemen's Houthis attacking Saudi Arabia, which raised geopolitical risks. Elevated energy costs dampen global economic sentiment and have put pressure on demand expectations for copper, which is used in various industries like electrification, construction, and consumer goods.

Some support came from the Yangshan copper premium, which measured the Chinese demand for imported copper at $168 per ton on Friday, its highest level since 2014. In China, the world's top copper consumer, some smelters were on maintenance, and stocks in SHFE-monitored warehouses dropped by over a quarter to 54,356 tons last week.

Among LME metals, aluminum fell 0.41%, zinc declined 0.09%, lead dropped 0.18%, nickel slipped 1.19%, and tin decreased 0.24%. Among Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) metals, aluminum rose 0.89%, zinc increased 0.93%, lead fell 0.12%, nickel dropped 2.06%, and tin rose 0.98%.