On Thursday, April 3, Citi Research lowered its forecast for base metal prices in 2025, citing the tariffs announced by the Trump administration and the impending tariffs that will pose significant headwinds to demand.
According to China News Service, US President Trump signed an executive order on the so-called "reciprocal tariffs" at the White House on the 2nd, announcing that the US will impose a 10 per cent "minimum benchmark tariff" on trading partners and levy higher tariffs on certain trading partners. According to the executive order, the 10 per cent "minimum benchmark tariff" on all trading partners will take effect on April 5, while the different and higher so-called "reciprocal tariffs" on the countries and regions with the largest trade deficits with the US will take effect on April 9.
Citi analysts stated in a report: "We emphasize that due to high positioning, copper, zinc, and aluminium are the most vulnerable to downside risks."
Citi has revised its 2025 copper price forecast from USD 9,100 per tonne to USD8,860 per tonne.
LME three-month copper closed down USD 334, or 3.44 per cent, at USD 9,366.50 per tonne on Thursday, hitting a low of USD 9,340 during the session, the lowest since March 4.
Although metals are largely unaffected by reciprocal tariffs, Citi still expects the Section 232 tariffs on copper to take effect in Q2.
The bank also lowered its aluminium price forecast from USD 2,615 per tonne to USD 2,480 per tonne, nickel price forecast from USD 16,000 per tonne to USD 15,500 per tonne, zinc price forecast from USD 2,750 per tonne to USD 2,630 per tonne, lead price forecast from USD 1,975 per tonne to USD 1,950 per tonne, and tin price forecast from USD 33,750 per tonne to USD 33,700 per tonne.
Note: This article has been issued by SMM and has been published by AL Circle with its original information without any modifications or edits to the core subject/data.
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