Copper Prices Rise on Reports of Russian Troops Returning to Bases

The copper prices They rose on Tuesday after Russia returned some troops to their bases following military exercises near Ukraine, dampening fears of an invasion and buoying financial markets.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) added 0.43% to $9,962.50 a tonne at 11:52 GMT, after gaining 0.6% the previous day.

It was unclear how many Russian units are withdrawing to their bases, as an estimated 130,000 troops have been deployed to sectors near the Ukrainian border.

“In the short term, the metals markets remain at the mercy of the situation in Ukraine, moving back and forth between a dynamic of aversion and risk”, said Gianclaudio Torlizzi, a partner at the consultancy T-Commodity in Milan.

“But if we exclude geopolitical pressures, the general trend remains bullish for most metals.”, he expressed.

Any move lower, including knee reactions to faster US monetary policy tightening, would be a buying opportunity, added Torlizzi, who is targeting a copper price of up to $11,000 and $3,500. for aluminum.

With physical purchases in China expected to start rising in the coming weeks as the economy returns to normal after the Lunar New Year holidays, visible copper stocks are likely to remain at multi-year lows in the near future. term, analysts said.

Among other metals for industrial use, aluminum fell 0.2% to $3,209 a tonne, zinc gained 0.6% to $3,597.50, nickel rose 0.2% to $23,220, lead advanced 0.5% to $2,298 and tin added 0.3% to $43,380 a tonne.

With information from Reuters.