Copper's Global Boom Sparks Kashmir's Ancient And Modern Trading

(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Srinagar- When Bashir Masoodi invested ₹2 lakh in copper late in 2025, he focused on the numbers flashing on the Multi Commodity Exchange screen. Copper futures for the January 2026 series traded near ₹1,300 per kilogram, a sharp contrast to the ₹160 per kilogram level seen in 2004.

That long climb reflected a return of more than 700 percent over two decades and convinced him that copper had entered a new phase.

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By early 2026, the value of Masoodi's copper exposure had grown to about ₹3.4 lakh, giving him a profit of ₹1,40,000 in a matter of months.

He followed the market through MCX futures, the primary route available to Indian investors since copper does not have an exchange traded fund option in the country.

“Gold and silver always dominate the talk,” Masoodi said while holding a copper glass passed down from his grandmother.“But when I looked at the price history and saw how copper moved with industry and power projects, the story felt different and much bigger.”

On the MCX, copper trades as a futures contract with a standard lot size of 2,500 kilograms. At a price of ₹1,300 per kilogram, a single contract carries a total value of around ₹32.5 lakh.

Traders do not pay the full amount upfront. Instead, they post a margin of roughly 10 to 15 percent, which means an investor needs about ₹3 lakh to ₹6 lakh to hold one contract. Exchanges allow margins to be split between cash and approved shares, usually in a fifty-fifty ratio.

Daily mark-to-market adjustments sit at the heart of copper trading. Gains and losses are settled at the end of each session, tying traders closely to every price move.

Investors who want to stay invested beyond a contract's expiry roll over their positions by selling the expiring contract and buying a later-month series.

Copper's sustained rise has pushed these once-technical terms into everyday conversation among traders and small investors.

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Its price now signals changes that extend well beyond commodity screens.

“Copper sits at the center of the modern economy,” said Shiv Kumar, a Mumbai-based commodities strategist.“Electric vehicles use much more copper than petrol cars. Renewable energy projects depend on copper wiring. Data centers rely on it for power distribution and cooling. Demand flows from every direction.”

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