Global Supply Woes Push Copper Past $11,400 Per Ton

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Soaring copper orders from South Korea and Taiwan led to the biggest rise in requests for withdrawals from London Metal Exchange warehouses since 2013, pushing copper prices to a new record high on Wednesday.

The price of copper increased by another 2.4% on the London Metal Exchange (LME) early on Wednesday, to exceed $11,400 per ton, which beat the previous record high from just two days ago.

Copper prices have jumped by around 30% so far this year, with the gains mostly occurring in the second half, amid a series of supply issues in key producing countries and speculation about potential U.S. import tariffs.

This year, copper prices have rallied amid threats from the Trump Administration to impose tariffs on the industrial metal crucial for electrification and grid expansion. Trump backed off plans for a tariff, for now, but traders are nevertheless amassing copper into the U.S., which has hiked copper prices at the Comex exchange in New York and shrunk supply elsewhere in the world.