Copper hits $11,000 a ton as investors bet on shortages.

Copper struck $11,000 per metric ton on Thursday, a milestone not seen for 16 months as investors piled into the metal after a series of disruptions to mine supply led to fears of shortages, while aluminium hit a more than three-year peak.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 3.1% to hit the $11,000 mark, moving it within striking distance of its all-time peak of $11,104.50, set in May 2024. It eased to $10,901 as of 1355 GMT.

Investors in top metals consumer China returned to the market on Thursday after a week-long public holiday.

Alastair Munro, senior metals strategist at brokerage Marex, said speculative Western money had poured into copper around the end of the third quarter after Freeport declared force majeure at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia.

“Today China has come in on the bid overnight and their spec community has now joined that Western bid,” Munro said, noting that some profit-taking had now begun.
Total copper stocks in the LME warehousing system are at 139,475 tons, the lowest since late July, while the discount for the cash copper contract against the three-month contract narrowed to $5.80 per ton, from $29.50 on Wednesday, indicating tighter near-term availability.