Copper prices could soar 33% in the next year as global inventories hit lowest since 2008, top metals trader says

• Copper could climb as high as $12,000 per metric ton in the next year, Trafigura said.
• That represents a 33% jump from the current price of about $9,000.
• "What's the price of something the whole world needs but we don't have any of?"

Copper prices could spike over the coming year as growing demand from China puts stress on already-thin inventories, according to top metal trader Trafigura.

The economic-bellwether commodity currently trades at around $9,000 per metric ton and will likely top the record of $10,845 to potentially go as high as $12,000, said Kostas Bintas, co-head of metals and minerals at Trafigura, at the FT Commodity Global Summit.