Copper Surges to Record on Tight Supply and Energy Transition Demand
LME three-month copper crosses $11,500 a tonne as Chinese smelter cuts collide with grid investment from Texas to Tamil Nadu.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange settled at $11,512 a tonne on Wednesday, an all-time closing high, capping a rally of 28 percent year-to-date.
Supply-side pressure is acute. Treatment and refining charges paid to Chinese smelters have collapsed to negative territory, forcing announced production cuts of close to 8 percent of global refined output.
Demand-side support comes from the now-familiar combination of grid investment, electric-vehicle production and data-centre electrification. Goldman Sachs estimates a structural copper deficit of 700,000 tonnes by 2027.
The rally has not been universally welcomed. Cable manufacturers, electric-vehicle producers and renewable developers are all warning that current pricing risks delaying the very capital expenditure that the market is anticipating.
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