Copper prices have surged to a new all-time high following several hours of trading disruption caused by technical failures at the CME Group exchange.
The benchmark metal climbed 2.5% on Friday to reach a peak of $11,210.50 per tonne, highlighting growing pressure in the global copper market.
Copper – price hits $11,000/t again on the potential for shortages in China
- Enough of the world’s physical copper is sitting in the US that it is seen causing supply issues in China.
- So much of the world’s inventory of physical copper was moved to US warehouses in anticipation of Trump’s copper tariffs that this is leading to physical shortages elsewhere.
- Traders have continued to take advantage of premiums for physical copper on Comex.
- There is much talk of negative fees being offered by Chinese smelters and refiners, but remember the smelters take every last scrap of by-product metal they can get away with and they also offer lower than the market rate for selling your copper at the end of the process so the fees are not as negative as they sound.
- Codelco has also raised its premium for copper cathode to $350/t
- Copper futures have risen to RMB 86,920 ($12,278/t) for the SCFcv1 with the benchmark 3m copper contract at $10,927/t (Reuters)
- Supply remains constrained going into 2026, with disruptions from Grasberg, Kamoa Kakula, El Teniente and QB.
- BHP’s second attempt at Anglo, although unsuccessful, highlights the world’s largest miners’ sustained ambitions in bolstering their producing copper assets.
- CAPEX inflation has continued to hit the mining sector, and majors are choosing to buy over build.
- We expect this theme to continue from western miners, further constraining copper supply in the long term.
The rally has been driven by tightening supply conditions alongside accelerating demand, fuelled by rapid expansion of data centres and rising military expenditure worldwide. These structural forces have intensified concerns over the availability of refined copper, particularly as inventories remain constrained.
Further momentum was added by comments from Kostas Binta, Head of Metals at Mercuria Energy Group, who warned of potential shortages at a major industry conference in Shanghai. “This is the big one,” he said, cautioning that continued demand growth could leave global markets facing a significant shortfall in copper cathodes.
Market participants now remain focused on supply chain resilience and future production capacity as copper’s role in electrification, infrastructure and defence continues to expand.
