Copper Surges to Record High Amid Supply Crunch
Copper prices have reached record highs for two consecutive sessions due to tight near-term supplies and concerns over US tariffs. The industrial metal has rallied around 17% this year, driven by a long-term mismatch between constrained mine supply and growing demand from data centers, renewable energy equipment, and power grids.
The recent surge is also attributed to the massive shift of refined copper towards the US, which has drained stockpiles in London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses. This has triggered a severe squeeze, keeping the futures curve in steep backwardation, an indication of a dearth of supply.
Jia Zheng, a trading manager at Suzhou Chuangyuan Harmony-Win Capital Management Co., believes it 'should be easy for copper to reach $15,000' due to strong orders from State Grid Corp. of China and operational problems at major copper projects that may lead to global mined production posting its first annual decline since 2017.