(MB) Copper prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange strengthened during Asian morning trading on Tuesday April 10, after a further cooling in trade tensions between the United States and China led to increased buying interest among investors. The most-traded May copper contract on the SHFE rose to 51,020 yuan ($8,087) per tonne as of 10.55am Shanghai time, up by 410 yuan from the previous session’s close. A conciliatory tone struck by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his opening address at the Boao Forum for Asia annual conference on Tuesday has eased concerns of a continued US-China trade war. In the speech, Xi stressed that Beijing “does not seek a trade surplus” and hopes to increase imports.Xi also discussed plans to further open up the Chinese economy, including „significantly“ lowering import tariffs for autos, decreasing duties on other products, enforcing the legal intellectual property of foreign firms and improving the investment environment for international companies. Investors’ appetite for the metals returned strongly and Asian markets were buoyed following the comments. “Commodities were higher… as investors pushed aside concerns about the ongoing trade dispute to focus on the positive fundamentals,” ANZ Research said on Tuesday. “Spot buying appetite [for copper] should grow stronger as the market is entering into a peak consumption season,” analysts with Citic Futures Research noted. But the red metal could still be vulnerable to swings due to developments in key labor contract negotiations. Codelco’s Chuquicamata division has reached an agreement with its supervisors’ union for a new labor contract, the Chilean copper producer announced late on Monday. This follows the company reaching a deal with union workers at its Radomiro Tomic division at the end of last week.
