Copper price rises on supply disruption concerns

2022.09.08

By MINING.COM Staff Writer

The copper price rose on Thursday as potential disruptions raised worries of a shortage of supply for the orange metal.

Workers at BHP’s Escondida threatened on Wednesday to go on strike over what they described as safety concerns. Escondida is the world’s largest copper mine.

Copper for delivery in December rose 2.6% from Wednesday’s settlement price, touching $3.52 per pound ($7,744 per tonne).

The most-traded October copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased 0.6% to 61,330 yuan ($8,801.66) a tonne.

The premium for cash copper over three-month futures on the London Metal Exchange rose by as much as 91% on Thursday to a high of $145 per tonne, an indication the market is paying more for units right now. That’s the biggest backwardation since November last year.