Copper races to 15-month high on Freeport force majeure
Sept 24 (Reuters) - Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange jumped by over 3% to their highest in more than 15 months on Wednesday after Freeport-McMoran Inc FCX.N declared force majeure at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia.
Benchmark three-month copper CMCU3 rose 3.6% to $10,330 a metric ton. That was the highest since May 2024, when the metal hit an all-time high of $11,104.50 a ton. It was trading at $10,256 as of 1457 GMT.
Freeport said 2026 production from its Indonesian unit could be 35% lower than estimates before a September 8 landslide, when a sudden rush of around 800,000 tons of mud trapped seven workers, two of whom have since been confirmed dead. Freeport suspended operations at Grasberg after the incident.
A phased restart at Grasberg may only occur in the first half of 2026, Freeport said on Wednesday.
The volumes lost next year would represent a "sizable hole in the supply chain," Marex analyst Ed Meir said in a note.
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