Copper Fee Signals Tightening Supply After Big Panama Mine Shuts

A key indicator of supply in the global copper market just sank to the lowest level since August last year, as the shutdown of a large mine in Panama cuts the availability of ore for next year.

The closure of the $10 billion Cobre Panama mine — after widespread political protests in the Central American nation — leaves world copper smelters with less raw material than expected to support their rapid expansion in capacity.

That’s reflected in the so-called treatment charges for converting concentrated ore into metal, which rise when supply of mined copper is plentiful and drop when it’s ...