Copper Rebounds as Supply Tightness and Equities Rally Push Metal Towards Record High

Copper prices have rebounded for a fifth consecutive session as supply tightness in China and a rally in equities push the metal towards its record high set earlier this month.

The Comex copper price for December delivery reached $6.8410 per pound, its highest since 10 September, while benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) touched $14,710.50 a tonne before easing back to around $14,650.

A key indicator of tightness is the LME's cash market, where metal is trading at a $26 per tonne premium over the three-month contract, a backwardation that has swung from an $86 discount just a week ago. This suggests buyers are paying more for immediate delivery than for future supply.

The US is also running out of storage space, with Comex warehouses holding 696,204 tonnes, about 69% of all exchange-monitored copper, after importers rushed metal in ahead of tariffs that Washington has yet to impose. With storage at the Port of New Orleans largely full and another 100,000 tonnes of African and South American copper due over September and October, the US is struggling to absorb more.