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Copper prices rise on positive Chinese trade data

The copper price rose on Thursday, after the July trade data for China's top metals consumer beat expectations. A cautious optimism about a possible U.S. China trade agreement also helped.

In official open-outcry trade, the price of three-month copper at the London Metal Exchange increased by 0.3% to $9701 per metric ton.

David Wilson, analyst at BNP Paribas, said that "China's strong data on exports has given positive sentiment to the industrial metals."

China's exports increased 7.2% in July compared to the same month last year, exceeding a polled forecast of 5.4%. Imports increased by 4.1% in July, despite expectations for a 1% drop.

Copper imports increased by 3.4% compared to a month ago, while copper concentrate imports were up 9%. The smelting industry continued to buy up the limited concentrates in an unprecedented production run.

This growth was also facilitated by the 1.4% drop in LME Copper last week, which was triggered by a fall in Comex copper prices after Washington removed copper metal from its tariffs on certain copper products.

The U.S. accumulated large amounts of metal in anticipation of tariffs. Copper stocks in the U.S. must start to move. BNP Paribas' analyst Wilson stated that the premium over LME benchmark on Comex futures would have to be reduced to a discount.

A surplus on the global market is expected to cause the LME copper price to fall to $8,800 at the end of third quarter. In the first five month of 2025, there was a surplus of 272,000 tons on the refined copper market.

The markets are still focused on whether Beijing will be able to reach a durable agreement with Washington before the August 12 deadline for tariffs.

U.S. president Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he may announce additional tariffs against China, similar in nature to the 25% extra duty on Indian imports over their Russian oil purchases.

(Reporting by Polina Devitt in London Additional reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengalur Editing by David Goodman) (Reporting from London by Polina Devitt Additional reporting from Bengaluru by Brijesh Patel Editing by David Goodman).

(source: Reuters)