Copper Reaches Two Week High on Strike Worries

Copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.9 percent to trade at $6,795 per tonne today, according to Reuters. The metal earlier touched a two week high of $6,797.75. This rise was due in part to concerns about strikes at two mines, which will decrease supply just as higher demand comes from top copper consumer China. Workers at Freeport-McMoRan’s (NYSE:FCX) copper mine in Indonesia and workers at the Antamina copper mine in Peru plan to start a strike on Nov. 10 that will last an indefinite amount of time.

“There’s a bit of stability led by the copper supply disruptions and we’re getting a bit of a bounce in prices,” Robin Bhar, an analyst at Societe Generale, told Reuters. “But we are still expecting more downside to come for copper rather than upside. The wall of supply is still coming. That has not been delayed or cancelled.”

Copper for December delivery on New York’s Comex traded at $3.077 per pound, a rise of $0.013 or 0.41 percent, according to Investing.com.