Copper rallied to trade just shy of a record high, after requests to withdraw inventories from London Metal Exchange warehouses surged by the most since 2013.

Prices rallied as much as 1.7% to $11,333 a ton, trading $1 off a record struck on Monday, after data from the exchange showed a spike in orders for copper in Asian warehouses.

Gains in recent weeks have been fueled by speculation that there could be a looming shortage as traders divert huge volumes of the metal to the US to front-run possible import tariffs.

Also Read: Copper to reach $13,000/tonne by 2026 end on rising tech demand: Kunal Shah

Supply issues have dominated the copper market throughout this year after a series of unplanned mine disruptions from Indonesia to Chile and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Chinese smel

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