Copper heads towards record high, focus on tight supplies outside US

Elsewhere, zinc CMZN3, supported by tight supplies and low LME stocks MZNSTX-TOTAL, was up 0.8% at $3,976 a ton, close to the $3,990 a ton hit at the start of the month, the highest since May 2022.

A softer U.S. currency, which makes dollar-priced metals cheaper for holders of other currencies, supported base metals overall.

Aluminium CMAL3 was up 0.1% at $3,298, lead CMPB3 rose 0.3% to $1,914, tin CMSN3 gained 0.3% to $55,030, while nickel CMNI3 slipped 0.5% to $16,755.

Copper prices headed towards a record high on Monday, as the prospect of shortages outside the U.S. spurred buying, while the softer dollar reinforced positive sentiment.

Traders said a U.S. holiday meant volumes were likely to be muted, but added that focus was firmly on copper and zinc.

Benchmark copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.1% at $14,430 a metric ton at 0931 GMT, the highest since the all-time peak of $14,527.50 hit in January.

Traders and producers have been shipping copper to the U.S. since President Donald Trump mooted import tariffs in February last year. Comex copper stocks HG-STX-COMEX stood at a record high of 766,795 short tons, or 695,624 metric tons.

Elevated premiums or backwardations for nearby 0#MCU: contracts against longer-dated forwards have attracted some copper back to the LME. But cancelled warrants or metal earmarked for delivery at 51% indicate more than 121,000 tons of copper are likely to leave the LME system over the coming days and weeks. 0#MCUSTX-LOC.

The premium for the cash over the three-month forward CMCU0-3 climbed above $430 a ton in the middle of August, the highest since 2021. It closed around $74 on Friday.