After a months-long rally driven by financial investors anticipating supply shortages, copper has surged to its highest-ever level, according to Mining Weekly.
The industry publication reports that tight supply of copper ore fueled talk of output cuts by smelters, while a short squeeze on the New York futures market this month triggered a global rush to secure the metal.
Futures on the London Metal Exchange jumped more than 4% in early Monday trading, taking copper past $11 000/t for the first time.
Craig Lang, principal analyst at researcher CRU Group, is quoted as saying: “That has taken prices to another level and it’s very difficult to call a top in this environment.”
Mining Weekly reports that investors, traders and mining executives have warned for years that the world faced a critical shortfall of copper amid ballooning demand in green industries. Commodities veteran Jeff Currie said last week that copper was the best long trade he had ever seen.