Global Copper Inventories Are Getting Critically Low

Copper inventories are plunging across global exchanges
Both key spreads traded at record backwardations Friday

Copper wire rod in a storage facility following manufacture at the Uralelectromed Copper Refinery, operated by Ural Mining and Metallurgical Co. (UMMC), in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Russia, on Thursday, May 20, 2021. A rebound in the world’s largest economies as the vaccination against Covid-19 rolls out is stoking demand for metals, food and energy when supplies are still constrained, creating short-term shortages.Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

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By Mark Burton

October 15, 2021 at 7:34 AM UTC

Updated on

October 15, 2021 at 1:04 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Copper inventories available on the London Metal Exchange hit the lowest since 1974, in a dramatic escalation of a squeeze on global supplies that sent spreads spiking and helped drive prices back above $10,000 a ton.

Copper tracked by LME warehouses that’s not already earmarked for withdrawal has plunged 89% this month after a surge in orders for metal from warehouses in Europe. Stockpiles have also been falling fast on rival bourses and in private storage, and LME spreads have entered historic levels of backwardation, with near-term contracts trading at record premiums.