Copper Pressured by Hawkish Fed Outlook

2026-09-25 03:33 By Jam Kaimo Samonte 1 min. read

Copper futures fell to around $6.66 per pound on Friday, touching one-week lows as a stronger US dollar and rising Treasury yields weighed on prices amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue raising interest rates to combat inflation.

Higher borrowing costs could eventually slow global economic growth, weighing on demand for industrial metals.

Still, copper remains supported by persistent supply risks, with union workers at Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine in Chile, calling for a strike after rejecting a wage offer.

Metals trader Sprott Asset Management also said global mined copper output could decline this year for the first time since 2017, while disruptions at major mines in Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo have reduced expected annual production by an estimated 600,000 tons.

On the demand side, consumption remains strong across power grids, AI data centers and the defense sector.



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