Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) broke above the previous record high of $10,190 set in 2011 and had gained 2.3% to $10,325.
The most-traded June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed as much as 2.7% to 74,950 yuan ($11,603) a tonne, its highest since May 2006 and only 1.6% below its record peak of 76,160 yuan.
Average price realized for copper rose 54% to $3.92 per pound in the first quarter, while sales stood at 67,000 tonnes compared with 73,000 tonnes a year earlier.
Production at Teck Resources' steelmaking coal operations rose 20% to 5.9 million tonnes in the first quarter.
The 22 smelters in its copper production survey churned out 792,800 tonnes of cathodes last month, up from a low base in coronavirus-affected March 2020 and a 28-day February in 2021.
A slight increase in maintenance this month will see April cathode output fall to around 780,000 tonnes, Antaike said.
Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange traded down 0.3% to $8,937 a tonne in official rings. Prices are down 7% since hitting 9-1/2-year highs of $9,617 last month.
The blockage in the Suez Canal made people think about higher costs of transporting metal. It's not over yet, but the ship is moving.