Copper Hits Record Highs With a 15% YTD Surge Amid Growing Supply Pressures
The red metal is striking while the AI iron is hot. Comex copper futures settled at a record $6.53 a pound this week, climbing roughly 15% year-to-date and 8.6% since the Iran war began. The rally is being fueled by a mix of AI-driven electricity demand and a sulfuric acid shortage rippling through global supply chains after disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
- Middle Eastern producers supplied nearly a quarter of global sulfur output last year, and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz are now squeezing shipments.
- China tightened sulfuric acid export rules in May, while reported delays at Freeport-McMoRan’sFCX Grasberg restart added more pressure to supply concerns.
Wired for more: Copper’s squeeze is tightening as thinning ore grades, Persian Gulf bottlenecks, and booming AI data center demand collide. The pressure has already pushed Comex copper more than $500 per ton above the LME ahead of an expected US tariff decision by June 30, helping lift names like Freeport-McMoRan, MosaicMOS, the Global X Copper Miners ETFCOPX, and the US Copper Index FundCPER. Still, Sprott’s Jacob White warned that constraints tied to “geology, permitting and infrastructure realities” are unlikely to ease soon.