(Bloomberg) — Copper prices surged to a new record of nearly $13,000 a tonne in volatile trade as the London Metal Exchange reopened after the Christmas holiday, extending a stunning year-end rally fueled by concerns about tight supply.
Prices rose 6.6% in the first few minutes of trading, the biggest intraday gain since 2022, but fell back to a gain of about 2% by mid-morning in London. New York futures rose 4.7% during the London Metal Exchange (LME) break on Friday before falling.
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The latest rise caps an extraordinary year for copper, which is on track for its best performance since 2009. The rise in copper prices has been marked by severe unplanned mine outages, uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies and unprecedented pressure on smelters around the world. LME prices rose more than 10% in December as investors bet the rush to ship metal to the United States ahead of possible import tariffs will lead to metal shortages in other parts of the world.
Still, some analysts have warned that price increases are too high, especially as underlying use weakens in China, the top copper consumer.
“It feels like it all still depends on expectations,” Wu Kunjin, head of base metals research at Minmetals Futures, said by phone. He said some manufacturing plants in China – which buy copper and are price-sensitive – have cut production or even halted production after the recent rally.
As of 10:14 a.m. London time, LME copper was trading at $12,428.50 a ton. Comex copper futures fell 2%.
President Trump will decide on import tariffs on refined copper by the middle of next year. That prompted major traders to send large amounts of the metal to the U.S. ahead of the levy, cutting into stocks in the rest of the world.
–With help from Ben Sharples and Jack Ryan.
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