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The dollar's strength and mine disruptions have led to a 16-month high in copper darts.

The copper price briefly reached a 16-month high on Wednesday, due to fears of a possible shortage from a number of mine disruptions. However, a stronger dollar slowed the rise.

Aluminum prices also reached their highest level in 16 months, as inventories decreased.

The price of three-month copper at the London Metal Exchange rose to $10,815 a metric ton. This was the highest since May 22, last year. It then settled 0.1% higher, at $10,771, in open-outcry official trading.

LME copper is up 22% this year so far, boosted in recent weeks by the problems in major mines in Indonesia Chile and Congo.

The mine disruptions led to major revisions in forecasts made by the International Copper Study Group. On Wednesday, it reduced its projected 2025 surplus from 178,000 to 150,000 tons and predicted a deficit in 2026 of 150,000 ton.

In April, the company forecasted a surplus of 289 000 tons for this year and a surplus 209 000 tons by 2026. Nitesh Sharma, commodity strategist at WisdomTree, said that all the supply disruptions keep the market tight.

He added, "It seems that miners are not doing much in the way of exploration. Even sinking new mines has become more difficult. This kind of tightness will continue."

Seven workers were killed in a mudslide disaster at Indonesia's Grasberg copper mine. The mine is the second largest in the world.

Teck Resources, a Canadian mining company, cut its forecast for copper production at its flagship Quebrada Blanca Mine in Chile on Wednesday.

Capping the upside was a firmer dollar index, making greenback-denominated assets more expensive for buyers using other currencies.

LME aluminium has gained 0.4% official activity, to $2,752 per ton. This is the highest level since May 30, 2024. LME's on-warrant inventory - that is, those not designated for removal – fell to 398.775 tons Wednesday after losing 15% in the last month.

Other metals also fell, with LME Nickel down 0.7% at $15,380. Lead dropped 0.4% to $2,000, Zinc dropped 0.7% to 3,023.50, and Tin was down 0.2% at $36,475.

The Chinese market will reopen Thursday after being closed since October 1st for the Golden Week Holiday.

Click here to see the latest news in metals (Reporting provided by Eric Onstad). Additional reporting by Brijesh Patel in Bengaluru. Leroy Leo, Mark Potter and Mark Potter edited the article.

(source: Reuters)