METALS-Copper heads for weekly gain, aided by supply disruptions

By Lucas Liew

Oct 3 (Reuters) - Copper prices rose for the third consecutive session on Friday and are set for a weekly gain as supply disruptions continue to weigh amid accelerating demand for the metal.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 extended was up 0.23% at $10,514.5 per metric ton by 0239 GMT, having reached a 16-month high on Thursday.

The contract is set to end the week up 3.27%.

Recent attention has focused on copper supply disruptions, especially following Freeport's declaration of force majeure at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia.

As the world's second largest copper mine, Grasberg accounts for 3% of global concentrate production. Analysts estimate the disruption could result in a loss of 591,000 tons of copper output between September 2025 and the end of 2026, prompting Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Bank of America to raise their price forecasts.

The dollar index =USD, which measures the U.S. currency against six major peers, is on track for a 0.35% weekly decline, its biggest drop since early August. USD/

A softer dollar makes greenback-denominated assets more affordable to holders of other currencies. FRX/

Copper demand is expected to accelerate, driven by the green transition, development of AI data centres, and increased global rearmament, analysts at SGCIB said.

Globally, factory activity contracted in many regions, driven largely by sluggish manufacturing in China, where weak domestic demand and the anticipated impact of U.S. tariffs continue to weigh on the economy.

Elsewhere, lead saw the largest weekly change in LME warehouse stocks, rising by 5,500 tons, while copper inventories declined by 775 tons.

Among other London metals, aluminium CMAL3 dipped 0.15% to $2,688.5 a ton, while nickel CMNI3 and lead CMPB3 edged up 0.02% to $15,320 and 2,024.5 respectively, tin CMSN3 rose 0.03% to $36,900, and zinc CMZN3 gained 0.07% to $3,022.5.

For the top stories in metals and other news, click

TOP/MTL or MET/L

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
1345 US S&P Global Comp, Svcs PMI Final Sep

1400 US ISM N-Mfg PMI Sep

 For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: LME price overview      RING= COMEX copper futures  0#HG: All metals news         MTL   All commodities news      C 
 Foreign exchange rates FX=SPEED GUIDES LME/INDEX