ShanghaiChinese buyers paid a record $200-plus a ton above London copper prices.
Copper stood at $14,470 a ton in September, and importers are now paying more to secure supply.
Trafigura estimates data centres add 350,000 tonnes of demand this year, against about 28 million tonnes globally.
“We think there will be surpluses for the next few years,” said Alice Fox, a Macquarie analyst.
Removing the US tariff threat could trigger “rapid liquidation” of warehoused copper, Macquarie says.
How each outlet framed it
- Bloomberg Business
- Financial Times News
- frames the record copper premium as resting on AI demand, quoting an investor who calls AI a likely bubble
Sources: Bloomberg Business, Financial Times News