METALS-Copper firms at five-month high; focus on potential Trump tariffS

(Updates prices for Asia market close) SHANGHAI, March 19 (Reuters) - Copper prices on the London Metals Exchange (LME) held firm near a five-month high on Wednesday, with markets watching out for potential U.S. tariffs on copper. Benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 on the LME was up 0.2% to $9,923 a metric ton as of 0723 GMT. Prices hit a 5-month intraday high of $9,937 on Wednesday. Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump had ordered a probe into possible new tariffs on copper, inflating the premium of Comex copper over the LME contract, which was at a record high of $1,192 a ton on Tuesday. "Trump's potential tariff on copper is what we are watching closely now and the premium of Comex copper over LME copper continues to broaden, with the market speculating about a potential 25% tariff on copper by Trump," a trader said. Meanwhile, the head of Russian metals and mining giant Nornickel GMKN.MM , Vladimir Potanin, said on Tuesday that he expects updates on a Chinese copper-producing joint venture in the coming months. Nornickel is in talks for a joint venture in China, with potential investments in early financial plans for 2025-2026. LME aluminium CMAL3 rose 0.1% to $2,657 a ton, lead CMPB3 was unchanged at $2,095, zinc lost 0.2% to $2,958.5 and tin CMSN3 remained flat at $35,420. Nickel CMNI3 gained 1.1% to $16,425. SHFE copper SCFcv1 climbed 0.7% to 80,890 yuan a ton, SHFE aluminium SAFcv1 dropped 0.6% to 20,705 yuan a ton, zinc SZNcv1 slid 0.2% to 23,895 yuan, lead SPBcv1 gained 0.6% to 17,690 yuan and nickel SNIcv1 gained 0.7% to 131,660 yuan. Tin SSNcv1 gained 0.4% to 281,780 yuan. (Reporting by Violet Li and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Janane Venkatraman) ((Violet.Li@thomsonreuters.com;)) (( For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: LME price overview RING= COMEX copper futures 0#HG: All metals news MTL All commodities news C Foreign exchange rates FX= SPEED GUIDES LME/INDEX ))