On the London commodities market, the copper price rose 3.5 percent to $12,844 per tonne. This compares with a midday peak of $12,960 per tonne.
Demand for copper has increased as US President Donald Trump has signaled that he may raise US tariffs on copper. This has led to inventory buildup in the US and shortages of copper elsewhere.
The United States currently holds about half of the world's copper reserves, but under normal circumstances uses only about 10 percent of the supply, according to major bank UBS.
The price of copper, a key raw material in electronics and the global energy transition, rose 42 percent last year. Global demand for copper is expected to exceed supply by 100,000 tons this year, according to Chinese investment bank China Securities.
