LONDON: Copper prices dropped on Wednesday after inventories rose and worries over supply declined despite record premium offers from producers for next year’s physical deliveries.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.8 percent to USD14,310 a metric ton in official open-outcry trading, having slipped from its highest in three weeks at USD14,700 touched on October 14.
LME inventories climbed by 11,475 tons, data showed on Wednesday, having gained 8 percent in a week. Available stocks, those not earmarked for removal from warehouses, have also made sharp gains, up 40percent in the same period. “At this price level, copper is way above where it ought to be given global stocks,” Macquarie analyst Alice Fox told an LME Week briefing.
“We had a large surplus last year and we think there will be surpluses for the next few years on a global basis.” The most-traded November copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed 0.2 percent higher at 109,390 yuan (USD16,379.43) a ton.
While global copper inventories are high, large amounts are in the United States, creating regional shortages elsewhere, including Europe, where buyers face record premiums for 2027.
Chile’s Codelco is offering its customers a record-high premium of USD350 per ton over the LME price, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
Shipments have flowed towards American warehouses since Washington launched an investigation into copper imports in February 2025, leaving COMEX facilities holding roughly 70 percent of global exchange-visible inventories.
Nickel was the best performer on the LME, advancing 2.4 percent in official activity to a three-week high of USD16,035 a ton. “The catalyst is the prospect of coordinated production cuts by Chinese producers operating in Indonesia,” Neil Welsh, head of metals at broker Britannia Global Markets, said in a note.
Earlier this month, top producer Indonesia discussed a plan to impose a moratorium on development of new nickel processing facilities that produce partly processed metals.
Among other metals, LME aluminium rose 0.7 percent to USD3,024 a ton and lead added 0.4 percent to USD1,902, while zinc edged down 0.1 percent to USD3,722 and tin dipped 0. 2 percent to USD51,225.
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