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Copper soared to a record high of more than $13,000 per tonne on Tuesday, as concerns over supply disruption and tariffs extended a rally that has pushed up the price of the metal by nearly a third since October.
The metal rose 3 per cent in early London trading to more than $13,370 per tonne, having only passed $12,000 for the first time in late December.
The price of copper has hit a series of record highs since it began a sharp rally in October, after several disruptions at major mines including Freeport-McMoRan’s huge Grasberg complex in Indonesia.
The disruptions have intensified concerns about midterm shortages of copper, which is widely used in sectors from construction to energy and technology.
Supply disruptions looked set to continue this month, after workers at Capstone Copper’s Mantoverde copper and gold mine in Chile went on strike. The Vancouver-based company said activities at the mine “will be gradually reduced in a safe manner”.
Although global demand for copper is growing, many of the world’s major mines are ageing and becoming less productive, and it takes many years and huge sums of money to find and bring new ones online.
Fears that the Trump administration may impose additional import tariffs on the metal have also driven up demand, as traders seek to ship it in large quantities into the country ahead of any new levies.
The US government’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro “seems to have had no impact on the current risk tone” for copper, said analysts at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence in a note. Copper demand is widely seen as a barometer of economic health.