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Copper scarcity varies by region as trade routes reshape markets
A Reuters metals columnist says the same supply can look tight on the London Metal Exchange while China remains short, potentially creating different pricing across major venues.
Copper may not be physically scarce, but shifting regional trade flows are making it feel that way on key trading hubs, according to Reuters senior metals columnist Andy Home.
Home argues that as demand imbalances move between regions, available metal ends up “in the wrong place,” contributing to localized tightness at the London Metal Exchange and in China.
He said the market is moving away from a single globalized pricing dynamic, with potentially separate pricing dynamics across the LME, the Shanghai Futures Exchange, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, raising the prospect of “three prices.”
Home also linked growing copper use to the broader metal cycle driven by decarbonization and technology, while warning that rebuilding Western supply capacity away from China would require major infrastructure and energy investment, noting that building a new US smelter could use as much energy as a city the size of Boston.
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