Copper prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) closed at a record level for the second day in a row, with copper also rising on the London Metal Exchange (LME) as the 50pc US tariffs on copper imports are set to take effect on 1 August.

The CME next active copper contract price for September settled at $5.82/lb, a 1.7pc rise from Tuesday's record price. The CME price has risen 31¢/lb since 17 July at $5.51, a 5.6pc jump.

Three-month copper prices on the LME rose 0.4pc on the day to $9,920/t in Wednesday's official session. The LME copper price has risen by 12.8pc from the start of the year.

Base metal prices increased in official trading on the London Metal Exchange (LME) on Wednesday as the US dollar moved lower, but markets were subdued while awaiting further US trade policy developments.

The US dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of six others, was at 97.469 following Wednesday's official session, down from 97.798 at the same time on Tuesday.

The US and Japan have reached a trade deal, in which "Japan will open their country to trade including cars and trucks, rice and certain other agricultural products, and other things," US president Donald Trump said in a social media statement. "Japan will pay reciprocal tariffs to the United States of 15pc," and it will invest $550bn into the US, Trump said in the same post.

Trump also announced on Tuesday that a deal with the Philippines will establish a 19pc US tariff rate on imports from that country.

The deals come ahead of the 1 August deadline that the Trump administration has set for concluding trade deals with Canada, Mexico, the EU and other major trading partners.

US-EU trade negotiations have stalled after Trump threatened to impose a 30pc tariff on European imports. No high-level trade talks have taken place in the past week, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

Copper inflows into the US have slowed as traders prepare for the implementation of US Trump's 50pc copper tariffs ahead of the August 1 deadline.

US-based copper producer Freeport-McMoRan posted higher copper sales during the quarter over the same quarter last year, rising 9pc to 1.02bn lbs from 931mn in the same quarter last year. The company's global copper production decreased to 963mn lbs in the second quarter, down 7pc from 1.04bn lbs of copper produced in the same quarter of 2024.

Chinese mining company MMG's copper concentrate output in January-June rose from the same period a year earlier, driven by higher production at its Las Bambas and Khoemacau mines.

China's copper concentrate imports in January-June rose) by 6.2pc from a year earlier, customs data show, driven by continuous rises in domestic refined metal production.

The three-month aluminum contract on the LME rose by 0.3pc on the day to $2,647/t in official trading.

China's primary aluminum imports in June rose by 59pc on the year, customs data show, mainly driven by significantly higher supplies from Russia.

The three-month zinc and nickel contracts on the LME rose by 1.3pc on the day to $2,865.5/t and by 0.2pc to $15,505/t, respectively.

Three-month tin saw the biggest price rise of 2.1pc on the day to $34,425/t, while lead went up by 1.3pc to $2,032/t.

The August forward contract for WTI, the US crude benchmark, fell 96¢/lb to $65.25/lb.