Copper price rally resumes on supply warning

Copper prices rebounded to a near record on Wednesday amid fresh warnings of a sizable supply shortage that is likely to fall short of demand.Three-month futures on the London Metal Exchange settled at $11,556.50 a ton, for an intraday gain of 0.6%.Earlier in the week, the metal — a required raw material for building electric vehicles and data centers — hit a record of $11,771 a ton after promising economic outlook from China, its top consumer.Click on chart for live prices.The renewed rally comes on the back of renewed bullish calls on copper’s long-term prospects, which in recent months have been lifted by a series of mine disruptions and growing expectations of a US tariff on the metal.“We believe a period of higher prices is needed to spur investment in new copper production, and the mining industry struggles to build new supply,” RBC Capital Markets said in a note.“The interplay of AI-driven data center growth, EV expansion and a global shift toward dovish economic policy sets up a strong case for copper demand,” it added.Column: Will the real Doctor Copper please step forward?After setting a record, copper had fallen as much as 1.3% following signs of slowdown in Chinese demand, as new data revealed that producer prices in the country fell for the 38th straight month.The earlier decline also came before the US interest rate decision, which would have a bearing on the outlook for the world’s biggest economy next year.(With files from Bloomberg)Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com