It's been a pretty miserable day for most ASX shares this Thursday. At the time of writing, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) has slipped by 0.24% and is back to around 7,970 points. But we emphatically cannot say the same for ASX copper shares.
Take the Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR) share price. It's currently up a healthy 6.52% at $8.42.
Metals Acquisition Ltd (ASX: MAC) shares are up 4.56, while gold and copper miner Evolution Mining Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) has popped 5.8% up to $3.38 a share.
Even BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), which has a significant copper division, has bounced 2.57% up to $43.03 a share.
But 29Metals Ltd (ASX: 29M) takes the cake, with a stonking rise of 14.6% up to 47 cents a share.
So something is clearly in the water with ASX copper shares.
Why are ASX copper shares like Sandfire soaring today?
Given we are seeing strong gains across this entire corner of the market, let's look at some macro factors that could be at play here.
The price of copper itself has continued to balloon in recent weeks. According to Bloomberg, one pound of copper was going for roughly US$370 a month ago. But today, that same pound is asking US$404.65. The industrial metal was priced at US$393 a pound just two days ago, so these are some significant increases.
This price spike could be a result of some reported production cuts in China. According to Reuters, several Chinese copper smelters have come to an agreement to cut copper production at several loss-making plants across the country. This is reportedly due to "a shortage of raw material".
This could be fuelling the sharp rises in global copper prices that we've seen in recent weeks.
As such, it's likely that these copper price rises are what is responsible for the success of ASX copper shares like Sandfire and 29Metals on the ASX today.
