Copper futures rose toward $6.30 per pound on Wednesday, rebounding from four-month lows amid tightening physical supply in China, the world’s largest copper consumer. Import premiums there have hit record highs in recent weeks, even as refined copper shipments have declined this year and domestic smelters have cut output in response to higher ore costs and shrinking margins. China has also struggled to rebuild inventories, with significant volumes of copper diverted to the US ahead of potential import tariffs.
Prices found additional support from renewed investor interest in the artificial intelligence sector after strong results from neocloud provider CoreWeave. Copper stands to benefit directly from the global build-out of AI infrastructure, given its critical role in data centers and power networks. However, the prospect of a Democratic sweep in the US midterm elections has raised the risk of tighter AI regulation and a potential slowdown in data center development.
