Copper jumps on Tuesday as Latin American supply squeeze deepens

Copper prices rose in Tuesday's (21 July) trading on worries over a Latin American supply squeeze, with the metal reaching about 6.37 US dollars per pound, up roughly 2.4 percent from the previous day.

The main driver is production bottlenecks in Chile and Peru, which together supply about 40 percent of the world's mined copper. According to reports, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) has shifted its 2026 balance forecast from a 209,000-tonne surplus to a 150,000-tonne deficit. Antofagasta also said its first-half copper output fell 9.5 percent to 285,000 tonnes. Copper is a key benchmark for the base-metals companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange.