Copper prices hit new record: supply, tariffs and project delays for mine planners
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Copper prices set a new record on Tuesday, with LME three‑month copper up 1.8% in open outcry to $13,225/t after touching an all‑time high of $13,387.50/t, extending a 6.6% gain so far in 2026 after a 42% surge last year. Supply risks centre on a strike at Capstone Copper’s Mantoverde copper‑gold mine in northern Chile and delays to Tongling Nonferrous’ Mirador phase‑two project in Ecuador, while US tariff rhetoric is pulling material into the country and distorting trade flows. Traders are increasingly split on whether speculative inflows are now outrunning physical fundamentals.
Technical Brief
- Nickel moved in tandem, touching a ~15‑month high above $18,000/t on supply curbs.
- Copper’s largest annual dollar gain in at least a decade occurred in 2025, per Benchmark Minerals.
- December 2025 alone saw copper jump ~14%, breaching $12,000/t then $13,000/t within weeks.
- Mantoverde’s strike risk affects a copper‑gold operation in northern Chile owned by Capstone Copper (TSX: CS, ASX: CSC).
- Analysts now question whether speculative inflows and sentiment are decoupling from mine/smelter fundamentals despite ongoing supply risks.
Our Take
Copper is one of the most heavily covered commodities in our mining database, and the 42% annual price surge followed by a further 6.6% gain early in 2026 suggests cost curves for assets like El Teniente and Mantoverde in Chile are likely being re‑evaluated, with marginal projects in Latin America moving closer to economic viability.
Nickel’s move to a near 15‑month high, alongside copper’s double‑digit monthly jump, aligns with other nickel-tagged pieces in our coverage where Indonesian and broader Asian supply policy has been a key driver, signalling that tariff or export‑control risk in Asia is now a central planning variable for battery‑metal projects in Canada and the USA.
The reference to over 100 tonnes of Pakistani antimony concentrates worth about $2 million underlines how minor critical metals trade flows can be quickly repriced in a tight market, which is relevant for companies like Benchmark Minerals that track cross‑commodity price signals across copper, lithium and antimony for downstream buyers in China and the Americas.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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