Copper rose to a record high on Tuesday amid concerns over a shortage of the metal outside the U.S.
The price of three-month copper futures on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose to $14,617 per metric ton, breaking the previous record set the day before. Since the start of this year, futures have risen 16%.
The most actively traded copper contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1.3% on Tuesday to 110,620 thousand yuan ($16,484) per metric ton, while during trading, prices rose to a high of 110,890 yuan per metric ton, the highest level since January 30.
Physical copper shipments continue to be redirected to the U.S., exacerbating shortages in markets outside the country, according to analysts at the Chinese brokerage firm Everbright Futures.
The flow of metal to the U.S. is driven by expectations that the country will impose tariffs on copper imports starting in 2027.
Copper inventories at Comex warehouses rose last week to a record 695,624 thousand metric tons. At the same time, an outflow of the metal is being recorded at warehouses registered with the LME, as well as with the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
The spot price of copper on the LME continues to exceed the price of the three-month contract, signaling limited supply of the metal in the short term.
Three-month zinc futures on the LME rose 0.54% to $4,005 per metric ton. Earlier, their price had climbed to a four-year high of $4,035 per metric ton.
Earlier, the Experts Club information and analytical center released a video on global copper production and leading producing countries – https://youtube.com/shorts/_h8iU50z8C0?si=a-XkgGEfeUxseQNa
