Copper Notches Record High as Supply Shortages Take a Toll
The copper price hit a record of $11,146 per ton on Tuesday, as a result of a shortage in mine supplies. This was after several weeks at high levels.
The London Metal Exchange's three-month copper was up 0.5% to $11,095 by 1035 GMT. It had earlier risen 1%, surpassing the previous record of $11,104.50 in May 2024.
Glencore, the world's largest copper miner, reduced its guidance for annual production to between 850,000-875,000 metric tonnes, down from 850,000-890,000 metric tons earlier, further escalating concerns about mine supply.
"I think that is the final straw," said Nitesh Sha, commodity strategist at WisdomTree. He added that he wouldn't be surprised to see copper production numbers fall and push the metal into a deficit by 2025.
Anglo American reported on Tuesday a lower copper production for the first nine-months of 2025. Shah said that the market was tighter than it had been at the start of this year.
Analysts from ANZ said that while copper's price has been supported by issues related to supply, demand in Europe has improved due to higher auto sales.
Investors will be closely watching the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate decision on Wednesday. A 25-basis point cut is widely expected. Attention will also be focused on a Thursday meeting between U.S. president Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, which could lead to a long-awaited deal on trade.
Aluminium was up 0.5% to $2,902 per ton after reaching $2,917 - its highest level since May 2022. Zinc rose 1% to $3.087, after reaching its highest level since December.
The premium for the LME cash zinc contract on the three-month forward
Lead was unchanged at $2,026.50, and tin fell 0.1% to $35,305. (Reporting and additional reporting by Lucas Liew, Kirane Donovan, Janane Venkatraman)
(source: Reuters)
