Chilean Storms Fuel Copper Price Surge

Chile's recent storms have disrupted copper mining operations, exacerbating existing supply chain strains. Major producers such as Anglo American, Antofagasta, Lundin Mining, and state-owned Codelco have been impacted by heavy snowfall, flash flooding, and high winds. According to strategists at ING, this is the latest blow to a market already reeling from U.S. tariff expectations, tighter scrap availability in China, and surging demand for refined copper used in AI infrastructure.

Natalie Scott-Gray, senior metals demand strategist at StoneX, notes that Chile accounts for more than a fifth of global copper production. The country's recent downgrade of its output by 2% to 5.3 million tonnes this year has further tightened global supplies. Scott-Gray describes the impact on major producers from the storms as 'temporary and limited,' but warns that any further setbacks could leave buyers competing for an even smaller pool of available copper, boosting prices further.

Duncan Wanblad, CEO of Anglo American, is bullish on copper's fundamentals, citing a 35% jump in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization to $4 billion in the first half. Strategists earlier flagged the outsized impact on commodity markets from the stronger-than-usual El Niño this year, with both floods and drought potentially affecting mining of the base metal.