Base Metals Prices

Base metal prices decreased 0.4% month on month in August, following July’s 1.2% rise.

Prices for most base metals saw little variation in August. Among those trading lower, U.S. steel prices posted the sharpest decline as demand remained downbeat; the market is still only pricing a tariff of 20–30%, instead of the current 50%. Meanwhile, Trump’s announcement that levies on copper would only apply to semi-finished products, not to refined copper, curbed prices for the metal. Moreover, healthy supply dented prices of lead and nickel. In contrast, prices for iron ore and zinc rose as Chinese output curbs on steel buoyed sentiment along the entire steel supply chain. Lastly, supply woes supported alumina prices, while sturdier demand boosted prices for European steel.