Copper prices started the week higher on Monday, boosted by dwindling raw material supplies and investor focus on a potential deal between BHP Group and Anglo American that would make BHP Group the largest miner of copper in the world.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange added 0.2% to $9,985 a metric tonne at 0203 GMT, after hitting a two-year high on Friday.
The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was up 0.5% at 80,760 yuan ($11,145.31) a tonne.
Shortages of copper ore and concentrate, triggered by the closure of the large Cobre Panama mine in December, sent processing fees for copper into the negative for the first time last week.
Meanwhile, London copper prices tested a major level of $10,000 per metric tonne on Friday, after BHP Group’s bid for Anglo American highlighted supply concerns and intensified fund purchases.
BHP Group plans to make a better offer in the coming weeks, but the group has not yet made a decision on the size and structure of the new proposal, a Source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.
The Federal Reserve’s May 1 policy review is the main focus for markets this week, with investors already anticipating a delay in its rate cuts after a run of sticky U.S. inflation and as officials including the President Jerome Powell, emphasize that even these plans depend on data.
LME aluminum was little changed at $2,568 a tonne, nickel was up 0.9% at $19,270, zinc was up 0.5% at $2,858.50, tin was up by 0.2% to $32,485, while lead fell 0.2% to $2,203.
SHFE aluminum rose 0.9% to 20,685 yuan per tonne, nickel slipped 0.3% to 142,950 yuan, zinc rose 0.5% to 22,915 yuan, lead rose 0.1% to 17,220 yuan, tin fell 0.6% to 260,080 yuan.
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($1 = 7.2461 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Siyi Liu and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
