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Copper slips as Chile storm output falls and stocks rise
Comex copper for December dropped 1.3% to $6.6020 a pound, while Chilean production in July fell 9.4% year over year as weather disrupted output.
Copper prices eased in New York after giving back gains in London, with Comex copper for December delivery down 1.3% to $6.6020 a pound by late morning.
Traders also pointed to a supply hit from Chile, the world’s biggest copper producer. Chilean output totaled 403,424 tonnes of copper in July, down 9.4% from a year earlier and 9.8% below June, with the national statistics agency citing weather in the north that hindered production and maintenance at major sites.
Despite LME inventories falling for four straight sessions to 234,275 tonnes, Comex stockpiles rose to about 688,000 tonnes as traders continued shipping copper into the United States ahead of a 15% duty on refined imports due in January 2027, according to Bloomberg.
The broader impact of the storms showed up in Chile’s economy, with the Imacec activity index down 1.5% in July from a year earlier and mining down 9.3%. Reuters last week cited CRU’s view that the market is at best balanced and noted that continued imports could shift the paper picture toward a real deficit.
Latest closeCopper $6.538 ▼0.8%