METALS-Copper climbs towards Monday's peak on mine disruptions

By Eric Onstad

LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Copper prices on Tuesday headed back towards the 16-month highs hit in the previous session as worries about continued mine disruptions overshadowed any drag from a stronger dollar.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 had gained 0.6% to $10,717 per metric ton by 1615 GMT, not far from its highest since May 2024 touched on Monday at $10,800.

LME copper has climbed 22% this year, pushed higher in recent weeks by mine problems in Chile, Congo and Indonesia.

Operations at the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, one of the world's biggest copper mines, have been halted for nearly a month after a mud-flow disaster killed seven workers.

There have also been disruptions at Kamoa-Kakula in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the El Teniente mine in Chile.

"The disruptions are obviously huge, so I thought copper would rise more quickly than it has done, but the dollar's getting a bit stronger," said Dan Smith, managing director at Commodity Market Analytics.

Citi said in a note on Tuesday that it had boosted its three-month price target for LME copper to $11,000 a ton from $10,500.

"We see a 2026 growth pickup catalysing $12,000/t copper by the second quarter of 2026 but multiple catalysts could see $12,000/t much sooner," the note said.

LME copper was approaching a key band of resistance from $10,750 to just under $11,000, where it has failed to break through three previous times, in May 2021, March 2022 and May 2024, Smith added.

"If we fall back from here, it's quite bearish from a technical perspective."

Investors appeared to brush off a firmer dollar index .DXY, which benefited from a weaker euro and yen. A stronger dollar makes greenback-denominated assets more expensive for buyers using other currencies. FRX/

Among other metals, LME aluminium CMAL3 gained 0.7% to $2,743.50 a ton, zinc CMZN3 climbed 1.3% to $3,044.50, lead CMPB3 rose 0.3% to $2,011 and nickel CMNI3 added 0.1% to $15,490 while tin CMSN3 lost 1.1% to $36,400.

Chinese markets are closed from October 1 to 8 for the Golden Week holiday.

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