Copper holds above $14,400 as Centinela workers reject wage offer
LME copper rose 0.2% to $14,438.50, with a strike vote at BHP's Escondida mine also underway
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Copper held above $14,400 a ton after workers at Chile's Centinela mine voted overwhelmingly against a wage offer, raising the risk of a strike at one of the country's larger copper operations. LME copper rose 0.2% to $14,438.50.
At the same time, workers at BHP's Escondida mine are voting on a separate wage proposal. Escondida resumed operations earlier this month following a stoppage tied to an accident, so the added risk to supply from a fresh dispute there looks smaller than the headline suggests.
Copper is on track for a third straight monthly gain after touching a record $14,875 in September, with tight physical markets and strong demand from China underpinning prices. Deutsche Bank has said it expects copper to rise above $22,000 a ton within six months as supplies tighten.
The move stays within the range copper has already traded this quarter, and the drivers behind it, a narrow supply story out of Chile, tight physical markets and a bullish multi-month call from one bank, are not new inputs for broad equity sentiment or the path of Fed policy. Higher copper costs could eventually weigh on margins at industrial and materials companies in the S&P 500, but for now this remains a commodity story specific to the sector rather than one that moves the broader market.