Copper hits three-month peak on reports of longer Grasberg Recovery
After a report pointing to a slight delay?in the recovery of production 'at the Grasberg Mine in - - -,?tightening expectations about supply.
At 0915 GMT, the benchmark three-month copper price on London Metal Exchange had risen 1.3% to $13,558.50 per metric ton. The metal had previously reached $13,619 - the highest level since January 29 when it spiked up to $14,527.50, its all-time high.
Bloomberg News reported Freeport-McMoRan's goal to return to full production in Grasberg before early 2028. Last month, the U.S. mining company said that its Indonesian unit would "approach full production by the end 2027".
Tom Price, Panmure Liberum analyst, said that mining engineers "never?talk up rapid recovery". "But it's longer than I expected," said Panmure Liberum analyst Tom Price. "I thought it would come out later this year."
LME copper is on course to achieve a weekly gain of 4.4%, the biggest since October 3, 2025.
U.S. Comex Copper continues to outperform global benchmark. It rose 1.9% to 6.25 per lb or $13,769 a tonne, and is heading to a weekly increase of 6.3% amid hope of a solution to the conflict in the Gulf.
Price added that U.S. investors had bought protection in anticipation of potential U.S. tariffs against?copper.
Shanghai Futures Exchange Copper Stocks
LME aluminium rose 0.9% to $3.523.50 per ton, as Gulf supply constraints persist. Nickel, however, fell 0.3% to $19,080, after reaching a two-year high of nearly $20,000 on Tuesday.
Lead fell 0.6%, while zinc dropped 0.7%, to $3,432; and tin lost 0.7%, to $54,205. (Reporting from Tom Daly. Pablo Sinha contributed additional reporting from Bengaluru. Barbara Lewis, Mark Potter and Barbara Lewis edited the article.
(source: Reuters)
