By Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Copper extended a powerful December rally that’s carried prices for the industrial metal to unprecedented highs above $12,000 a ton on fears over a tighter global market in 2026.

Investors have piled into copper on expectations that a rush of metal to the US — aimed at front-running possible import tariffs — will put buyers in the rest of the world in a tight spot. Prices on the London Metal Exchange are now on track for an annual gain of about 40%, the biggest since 2009.

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On Wednesday, prices rose as much as 1.8% to an all-time high of $12,282 a ton, before trading at $12,243 by 14:35 p.m. Shanghai time.

“Factors including supply disruptions, global liquidity expectations, and relatively stable macroeconomic growth, have accelerated the year-end surge in copper prices,” Xiao Jing, chief non-ferrous metals analyst at SDIC Futures Co. said in a note. “Prices may continue to rise around the peak season next year after some short-term adjustment.”

All six base metals on the LME are headed for annual gains in a year that’s seen an array of supply-side pressures. Rallies have sustained even as industrial demand shows signs of wavering.

Aluminum is up nearly 16% in 2025 as slowing production growth in China and soaring energy costs in the rest of the world crimp supplies. Zinc has gained 5% after key mine outages, while tin is up 49% after major producer Indonesia cracked down on illegal mining.

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