Copper trading was febrile in 2024 attracting speculators well outside commodity circles who were desperate to connect the metal to what has become the ultimate market pump action – AI. AI data centers were going to do for copper what the energy transition and electric cars couldn’t, at least not in the short term.
Military spending was also hoisted up the flagpole of copper demand to see who saluted, according to chatbots. In May, Comex copper hit an all-time intraday high of nearly $5.20 a pound or $11,500 per tonne. Positioning went to such net lengths that dollar trading volumes scaled $100 billion (twice the Dow daily average) in one 24 hour period.
Cooler heads prevailed in London, particularly after it became clear that the squeeze was mainly a US phenomenon and cargoes destined for Rotterdam and Shanghai were soon redirected there. LME futures have yet to visit $11,000 a tonne.
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