US copper futures (Sept’21) currently at US$4.5555/lb. [MEDIA]...

US copper futures (Sept’21) currently at US$4.5555/lb.



U.S. copper buyers are paying the world’s highest prices for the metal as soaring demand and logistical bottlenecks send New York futures surging ahead of contracts in London and Shanghai.

Copper futures for September 2021 delivery on the Comex have been trading at a premium to those for December 2021 since Friday in a condition called backwardation that suggests tight near-term supplies and rising demand. It’s the only main exchange where the metal is trading in backwardation right now.

As a result, a New York trader was paying over US$250/tonne more for Comex copper than the metal traded on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday, the widest since 2011.

The premium underscores investor assessments of diverging outlooks for the regions
Commodities from copper to steel have posted big gains this year, partly on bets that massive U.S. government spending to rebuild infrastructure will boost demand. Pandemic-triggered supply-chain woes have also helped lift prices. Meanwhile, Europe has been slower to recover from the pandemic, while concerns over China’s efforts to rein in inflation have clouded prospects for commodity gains there.

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