Deadly storms just hit Chile — and copper prices might be about to break records because of it.
Here's why that matters way beyond mining.
Copper isn't just metal.
It's the wire inside every AI data center, every EV, every power grid on Earth.
And right now, the world's biggest copper supplier just got hit by a storm it didn't see coming.
Snow. Flash floods. Brutal winds.
For a week, Chile got hammered.
13 people died.
And the mines? Chaos.
Chile alone makes over one-fifth of the world's copper.
When it sneezes, the whole market catches a cold.
This isn't a random weather story.
It's landing on a market that was already stretched thin.
Chile had already cut its own 2026 output forecast by 2%.
Now add storm damage on top.
That's not a coincidence. That's a squeeze.
Copper already hit an all-time high of $13,643 per tonne on June 2.
It's now trading around $13,750.
Strategists at StoneX and ING say another record isn't just possible — it's likely.
One wild stat: 64% of all visible global copper inventory now sits in the U.S. alone, hoarded on tariff fears.
Everyone else is left fighting over scraps. Literally.
Anglo American's CEO just said the company is "very, very bullish" on copper — its earnings jumped 35% last quarter, riding this exact wave.
So next time your phone gets pricier, or an EV costs more, or an AI company complains about data center bills…
Remember this storm in Chile.
The AI boom doesn't just run on chips.
It runs on copper wire — and right now, there isn't enough of it.
That's all for now!
