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Informist, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025

By Ashutosh Pati

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of copper edged lower on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the London Metal Exchange Friday as traders booked profits after a surge in prices in the past two sessions. However, prices remain underpinned by concern about mounting supply following Freeport McMoRan's force majeure at its Grasberg mine and disruptions at a Peruvian mine, analysts at Kotak Securities said in a report.

Freeport-McMoRan said it expects consolidated sales to be lower by around 4% for copper and nearly 6% for gold in the third quarter, compared to its previous forecast. The Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia, the world's second-largest copper mine, suspended operations after a large flow of wet material blocked access to parts of the underground mine, restricting evacuation routes for workers. The mine has been fully shut down for nearly two weeks after the accident on Sept. 8.

Moreover, Canadian mining company Hudbay Minerals Tuesday said its Constancia mine in Peru will be temporarily shut due to riots in Lima and several protests across the country.

Media reports suggest Peru's Antamina mine is set to increase copper production by around 20% to 450,000 tonnes in 2026 and aims production of around 400,000 tonnes annually in the following years. "If achieved, Antamina could overtake Freeport-McMoRan's Cerro Verde and MMG Ltd.'s Los Bambas, positioning itself as one of the country's top copper producers," ING analysts said in a report. Copper output from the mine is expected to reach 380,000 tonnes in 2025.

"...copper is set for its biggest weekly rise in five months, up over 2%, as traders watch China's push to curb new smelting capacity and Peru's plans to boost output at the massive Antamina mine," according to Kotak Securities.

The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association has urged the government to impose strict control on new copper smelting projects. This was largely due to strict competition that has pushed processing fee to record lows, putting severe pressure on the industry, ING said. In response, relevant Chinese government departments are accelerating efforts to draft new regulations aimed at having better control over copper smelting capacity, it added.

At 1727 IST, on the MCX, the October futures contract of:
-–ALUMINIUM was steady at INR 256.05 a kg
–-Copper was at INR 937.10 a kg, down 0.7%
–-LEAD was steady at INR 183.20 a kg
–-ZINC was at INR 282.30 a kg, down 0.1%

--NICKEL was at INR 1,352.90 a kg, down 0.7%

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 252.20-INR 259.40
--Copper contract seen at INR 919.60-INR 957.20
--Lead contract seen at INR 181.50-INR 184.40
--Zinc contract seen at INR 278.00-INR 288.70
--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,317.60-INR 1,375.60

End

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Edited by Subhojit Sarkar

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