Copper futures hovered below $5 per pound on Wednesday after losing more than 2% in the previous session, as escalating US-China tensions darkened the global demand outlook. In the latest flare-up, President Trump threatened Beijing with a cooking oil embargo in response to China’s soybean boycott, following earlier warnings of steep tariff hikes over its new rare earth export controls. Still, Trump is expected to meet President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month in a bid to ease tensions. On the supply side, persistent disruptions in Chile and Indonesia continued to tighten global output, with Chile’s Codelco posting its weakest monthly production in over twenty years and Indonesia’s Grasberg mine remaining constrained after last month’s fatal incident.
