LME Price Trends and Movements After the First Week of September

As of the first week of September 2024, LME (London Metal Exchange) prices and the average prices for August 2024 are as follows:

Average LME Prices for August 2024 (Unit: USD/ton)

- Copper (Cu): 8,963.71

- Primary Aluminium (Al): 2,334.33

- Zinc (Zn): 2,709.76

- Lead (Pb): 2,002.40

- Nickel (Ni): 16,249.76

- Tin (Sn): 31,512.14

LME Prices for the First Week of September (September 2 – 6, 2024)

​

General LME Price Trends: 

From September 2 to 6, 2024, LME metal prices showed an overall decline. Notably, the LME index began the week at 2,992.10 USD and closed at 3,880.00 USD on September 6, reflecting a drop of approximately 2.8%.

Predicted Reasons for LME Price Movements:

- Slowdown in China’s Economy: 

China is one of the world's largest consumers of metals, particularly copper and steel. However, the recent economic slowdown in China, coupled with instability in the real estate sector, has weakened metal demand. This has negatively impacted the global metal market and has been a significant factor in the price decline.

- Global Economic Uncertainty: 

The global economy is facing heightened uncertainty due to inflation, potential interest rate hikes, and geopolitical tensions (especially the war in Ukraine). These factors have weakened market sentiment and led to reduced metal demand. Investors have tended to shift from risky assets to safer ones, resulting in falling metal prices.

- Strength of the US Dollar: 

Since metals are primarily priced in US dollars, a stronger dollar makes metals more expensive for buyers in other currencies, leading to reduced demand. The recent possibility of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike has strengthened the dollar, adding additional pressure on metal prices.

- Supply-Side Factors: 

The supply of some metals has remained relatively stable, and inventories have been sufficient, which has added further downward pressure on prices. Specifically, metal inventories at the LME have not shown significant changes in recent weeks, indicating no supply shortages in the market.

These factors have collectively contributed to the downward trend in non-ferrous metal prices on the LME during the week of September 2 to 6, 2024.