Copper futures in New York surged as much as 5.5%, driven by a short squeeze that saw the most-liquid contract trade at a huge premium to other market benchmarks.
Comex copper for July delivery jumped to an intraday high of $5.026 a pound on Tuesday, within a whisker of the record high of $5.0395 set in March 2022. “Short spread & futures holders are being squeezed,” said Michael Cuoco, head of hedge fund sales for metals and bulk materials at StoneX Group. The move was specific to the July Comex contract. The high of $5.026 a pound is equivalent to $11,080 a ton — more than $1,000 a ton above the benchmark contract on the London Metal Exchange. It also pushed the Comex market into an unprecedented backwardation, with the July contract trading as much as 29.25 cents a pound above the September contract.Cuoco said he expected futures traders with long positions to roll them forward to take advantage of the huge backwardation. “These are rich values.