By Pratima Desai and Polina Devitt
LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) – Commodity trader Trafigura plans to take large amounts of copper from London Metal Exchange warehouses in New Orleans, two industry sources said, citing a U.S. tariff decision due late in June as a possible reason.
Swiss-based Trafigura declined to comment.
Traders have already moved substantial volumes of copper to the United States in anticipation of possible import levies that would raise shipping costs. The threat has increased the value of existing stocks because holding copper in the United States allows buyers to lock in supply at pre‑tariff prices.
The United States is expected to decide by late June whether to impose tariffs on copper metal imports following a review.
U.S. IMPOSED TARIFFS ON COPPER LAST YEAR
Last year it imposed a 50% tariff on copper pipes and wiring, part of a broader levy on semi‑finished copper products, following a review.
Copper held in LME‑registered warehouses in the United States is typically stored in free trade or bonded zones, meaning it has not formally entered the U.S. and is not subject to import tariffs unless taken into the domestic market.
LME data showed more than 30,000 metric tons of copper were cancelled, or earmarked for delivery, in New Orleans on Thursday, taking the total of cancelled metal to 45,675 tons in that U.S. location.
LME data does not identify which companies are responsible for inventory movements, but the two sources, who declined to be identified, said the company was Trafigura.
Total cancellations on Thursday were over 50,000 tons. The bulk of the remaining 22,000 tons was in LME warehouses in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Cancelled LME copper stocks overall amount to nearly 30% of the total at 391,900 tons.
The total stock of copper in warehouses approved by Comex is 574,864 metric tons, an increase of more than 550% since U.S. President Donald Trump in February last year ordered a Section 232 investigation, which is meant to determine whether a product is entering the U.S. in sufficient quantities to threaten national security.
Since February last year, traders have withdrawn copper from LME warehouses and those monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange to send to the United States, industry sources have said.
(Reporting by Pratima Desai and Polina Devitt; additional reporting by Eric Onstad; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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