Copper advanced to a record high in London on fears the global market is heading for a supply crunch.
The metal rose as much as 0.9% to $11,294.5 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, surpassing a peak reached on Friday before trimming gains, while futures on the Comex in the US surged as much as 1.6%. A rush to get copper to America ahead of possible import tariffs looks set to exacerbate shortfalls elsewhere as miners struggle to keep up with demand.
The sharp moves higher came after a major copper conference in Shanghai last week highlighted signs of supply stress following a year of unplanned mine disruptions. Smelters are facing tough talks with miners over annual ore supply, while yearly premiums spiked and major trader Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. warned of metal shortages next year.
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Many investors have been bullish on copper because of its essential role in electrification and the energy transition, and it's now up nearly 30% this year on the LME, the global benchmark. The advance on the Comex on Monday carried it to the highest since July 30, just before prices collapsed in the wake of US President Donald Trump postponing a decision on whether to place tariffs on commodity-grade forms of copper to the middle of next year.
Traders are again scrambling to get copper to the US, where prices remain higher than in London on expectations that Trump will impose import duties from 2027. Kostas Bintas, Mercuria's high-profile head of metals, said more than half a million tons could arrive in the US in the first quarter of 2026.
Copper was little changed at $11,199.00 a ton on the LME as of 10:36 a.m. in London, following a 2.3% jump on Friday. Comex futures climbed 0.6% to about $5.30 a pound. Other metals were mixed, with zinc up 0.5% while tin fell 1.7%.
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