US copper futures climbed to new record levels at midday on Wednesday as ongoing supply worries compounded already tight market conditions, brokers said.
By 11:50 am EST (1650 GMT), benchmark May copper futures gained 2.15 cents, or about 0.9 percent, to a new life-of-contract peak at $2.45 a lb. on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division. Spot March copper climbed 2.95 cents, or 1.18 percent at a new all-time high for COMEX copper at $2.5235 a lb.
A strike at Grupo Mexico's massive La Caridad copper mine in northern Mexico, ongoing protests at Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc's Grasberg mine in Indonesia, and a possible strike at the Kanasanshi copper mine in Zambia were seen fuelling the red metal's latest rally.