(Bloomberg) — Copper climbed to a fresh record in London and New York as traders weighed persistent tariff fears and supply shortages against escalating hostilities in the Middle East that clouded demand outlook.
Benchmark three-month futures on the London Metal Exchange rose to $14,858.50 a metric ton, surpassing a previous peak of $14,779.00 reached in the prior session. It has set a fresh record in each of the past three sessions. Comex copper also climbed to a fresh record of $6.894 an ounce.
The red metal has gained 19% this year, boosted by a long-term supply-demand imbalance. Ageing mines are struggling to keep pace with growing consumption from data centers, renewable energy and power grids, a dynamic copper bulls have touted for years.
Its recent ascent was driven by tightening physical supply outside of the US as traders continued to ship the metal to American shore in anticipation of tariffs on refined copper imports by President Donald Trump. The Commerce Department was due to submit a report to the White House at the end of June recommending whether the levies were necessary, but missed the deadline. The shift of hundreds of thousands of tons to the US in anticipation of import tariffs has left the LME market underserved.
Meanwhile, in the latest flare-up of violence, the US said it attacked more Iranian oil tankers overnight in response to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeting one of its warships. Brent crude topped $100 a barrel, fueling concerns about inflation ahead of US data on consumer prices due Friday.
“Caution remains warranted at the macroeconomic level,” Guangzhou Futures Co. wrote in a social media note. “There’s still uncertainty about US inflation, and shifting expectations for Federal Reserve policy can potentially put downward pressure on copper prices.”
On Wednesday, copper gained 0.4% to settle at $14,767.50 a ton on the LME. All other industrial metals except lead advanced.
–With assistance from Mark Burton and James Attwood.
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