Copper and tin led base metals lower on Tuesday as a renewed selloff in technology shares in Asia revived doubts about artificial intelligence spending and the demand it implies for data centres and electronics. Copper fell 1.2 percent to 14,180 dollars a tonne and tin fell 2.2 percent to 48,550 dollars a tonne, with both contracts down more than 1 percent on the London Metal Exchange. Aluminium dropped 1.1 percent to 3,060.50 dollars a tonne. Tin has fallen 10 percent this quarter, the worst performance among the LME’s six major metals.
The site market tables show the same direction in United States pricing, with copper at 6.37 dollars a pound, down 2.61 percent on the day and down 3.77 percent on the week.
The fall is a flow story, not a physical one. Chinese buyers have been paying an import premium above 200 dollars a tonne, near the highest in over a decade, Shanghai exchange stocks have fallen sharply over six months, and spot copper has traded at a premium to futures. Nothing in Tuesday’s physical indicators loosened; what changed was risk appetite in the equity complex that has become copper’s marginal price setter this autumn.