LIVE FUTURES REPORT 05/10: Comex copper surges after Chilean earthquake

Comex copper prices surged to a three-week high Thursday October 5 morning in the US, after a Chilean earthquake spurred a major round of buying.

Copper for December settlement on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped 6.70 cents or 2.3% to $3.0260 per lb. Earlier today, the contract hit $3.0295, its highest since September 13.

Base metals have experienced little price fluctuation throughout the week with Chinese market participants sidelined due to an extended holiday session.

“The news of the earthquake [in Chile] has filtered through to the market and is boosting the price, it’s in the area of the northern mining regions and it will be interesting to see if anything is disrupted,” one market participant said.

However, Chilean copper producers Codelco and Antofagasta reported no damage to their operations. The two miners have operations close to the city of Calama, where the quake occurred.

In the precious metals space, Comex gold for December delivery moved up 80 cents or 0.1% to $1,277.60 per oz.

Currency moves and data releases

  • The dollar index halted its decline after the release of strong US economic data on Wednesday; it was most recently up 0.28% to 93.74.
  • In other commodities, the Texas light sweet crude oil spot price was up 0.24% to $50.10 per barrel. 
  • The ADP non-farm employment change in September came in at 135,000, just above an expected reading of 131,000, while the ISM non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for September stood at 59.8, higher than the forecast of 55.5. 
  • “The [ISM manufacturing] index is now at its highest since August 2005 and is a sign that the US economy is recovering quickly from hurricane-related disruptions,” National Australia Bank said on Thursday. 
  • In today’s data, weekly unemployment claims came in at 260,000, just below the forecast of 270,000. Challenger job cuts year-over-year in September stood at -27.
  • In addition, US Federal Open Market Committee members Jerome Powell and Patrick Harker are due to speak later.

 

What to read next
After a month-long consultation period, Fastmarkets is amending the below specifications, following no negative feedback from market participants and internal data analysis. The following changes will take place: The new specifications are as follows, with amendments in italics: MB-CU-0002 Copper grade 1 cathode premium, ddp Midwest US, US cents/lb Quality: Grade A 99.9935% min copper cathode conforming to LME […]
The global copper market has finally received the widely anticipated news that imports to the US will be tariffed from August 1. The finer details of the tariffs, including their scope, and whether key copper-exporting nations like Chile, Canada and Peru will be exempt, remain unclear.
LME copper prices took a significant hit following US President Donald Trump's announcement of a potential 50% tariff on copper imports. The uncertainty surrounding the timeline and implementation of the tariff has left market participants hesitant, with analysts noting its immediate impact on price momentum and trading activity.
Fastmarkets has launched MB-AL-0424 Aluminium P1020A premium, fob Indonesia, $/tonne on July 9 due to an expected increase in Indonesia-origin aluminium exports. MB-AL-0424 Aluminium P1020A premium, fob Indonesia, $/tonneQuality: P1020A or 99.7 % Minimum Al purity (Si 0.10% max, Fe 0.20% max) in line with LME specifications. Ingot, T-bar, sowQuantity: Min 500 tonnesLocation: FOB IndonesiaTiming: […]
To increase the transparency of our methodology, Fastmarkets clarifies that the quotation period of the MHP nickel payable indicator is the month of delivery, or the month M. Any data points Fastmarkets received otherwise will be normalized to the M month based on the monthly spreads of the prevailing exchange-traded Class-1 nickel reference price, or […]
'Probably miscalculated’ assumptions at Kakula mine force Ivanhoe to overhaul entire Kamoa-Kakula complex, explains CEO Marna Cloete.