Copper price rally boosts these UK mining shares

Copper market upheaval amid disruption at the world’s second-biggest mine today led to a further rise for the shares of Glencore (LSE:GLEN), Anglo American (LSE:AAL) and Atalaya Mining Copper SA (LSE:ATYM).

Futures prices on the London Metal Exchange today lifted more than 1% to $10,455.50 a metric ton, having risen yesterday when US-based Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX) declared force majeure on deliveries from its Grasberg copper mine in Papua, Indonesia.

• Invest with ii: Top UK Shares | Share Tips & Ideas | Open a Trading Account

Its move followed a major incident on 8 September, when a sudden rush of approximately 800,000 metric tons of wet material entered the mine. Two bodies have been recovered, while five workers are missing.

Freeport expects a phased restart throughout 2026, with preliminary estimates for 35% less copper production from the mine versus previous guidance.

The events, which have followed disruption for other mining operators in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chile, prompted UBS to cut its forecast for global mine supply growth in 2026 to 1% from 2% previously.

The bank added: “This increases the magnitude of forecast 2026 deficits in the global copper market and we reiterate our bullish outlook for copper.”

• The case for diversifying beyond gold
• Trading Strategies: can this blue-chip keep outperforming FTSE 100?

UBS noted that copper demand has remained resilient in China, despite tariffs related economic uncertainty. Demand from traditional end use sectors in Europe and the United States has stayed weak but is not deteriorating further, with renewables still robust.

The forecast of a supply deficit and a weaker US dollar recently led the bank to target a copper price of $11,000 a metric ton by next year.

Source: interactive investor. Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

The elevated price outlook yesterday boosted demand for the shares of Chile’s Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO), which led the FTSE 100 with a rise of 9%. The shares fell 38p to 2,604p in today’s session.

However, Anglo American this morning put on another 20p after Wednesday’s rise of 5% or 120p, leaving the mining giant at its highest level since May 2024 at 2,691p.

The shares have now risen 18% since Anglo’s announcement on 9 September that it planned to create a new copper industry powerhouse through a merger with Teck Resources.

If successful, the tie-up would see Anglo Teck jump the global copper rankings to fifth behind Codelco, BHP Group Ltd (LSE:BHP), Freeport and Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd Class H (SEHK:2899).

The companies estimate that they can deliver $1.4 billion (£1 billion) of annual savings by integrating their neighbouring Collahuasi and Quebrada Blanca mines in northern Chile. That’s on top of about $800 million through wider economies of scale and operational efficiencies.

• Stockwatch: time to upgrade after this CEO’s buying spree
• Sign up to our free newsletter for investment ideas, latest news and award-winning analysis

The shares of Glencore, which is another of the world’s leading producers and marketers of copper, rose another 2p to 332.4p although they had been as high as 338p earlier in the day.

The company, which extracts and processes copper ore in South America, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Australia, is up 13% in the past fortnight. The shares were as low as 230p in April’s tariffs sell-off.

Rio Tinto Ordinary Shares (LSE:RIO), whose copper portfolio includes the giant Oyu Tolgo underground development in Mongolia, lifted 124.5p to 4,872.5p. Its very first mine was a copper mine on the banks of the Rio Tinto river, in Andalusia, Spain – bought in 1873 by a British-European investor group led by Scottish entrepreneur Hugh Matheson.

In the FTSE 250, Spain-based Atalaya Mining Copper rose another 3p to extend the past month’s rise to 16% at 607p. In August, it reported a big rise in half-year earnings after copper production improved to 27,466 tonnes from 22,249 a year earlier.