(March 24): The copper market in Asia is tightening up, adding to signs of worldwide dislocation, as prices rally hard on speculation that the Trump administration will impose import tariffs on the key metal.

In China, the Yangshan premium — a gauge on the additional cost for shipping in refined copper — has nearly doubled this month. In Southeast Asia, meanwhile, import premiums have risen to the highest since last April.

Copper has surged this year on bets that the US will introduce tariffs, with New York futures rallying far harder than the global benchmark contract in London. That unusual dislocation has been drawing stockpiles out of non-American markets into the US. Kostas Bintas, a well-known trader at Mercuria Energy Group Ltd, said that the recent shifts have been unprecedented.

“Supplies of imported copper into China are tightening, after cargoes from South America, Congo are diverted into the US,” said Li Yaoyao, an analyst at Xinhu Futures Co.

There are other warning signs in corners of China’s vast market, the world’s largest. The premium for cathode in the southern province of Guangdong spiked to more than 200 yuan (US$28 or RM124) a tonne, according to Shanghai Metals Market. That’s the highest seasonally since at least 2020.

Three-month futures traded 1.7% higher at US$10,020 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange, up about 14% this year. On the Comex in New York, copper — where it is traded in pounds — has spiked by 29% this year to near a record high.

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