London - The vast earthquake in Chile sent copper prices jumping to a three-week peak on Wednesday, as traders fretted over supplies from the top global producer.
At about 03:00 GMT copper climbed as high as $6 728.75 per tonne, striking the lowest point since March 10.
In later deals on the London Metal Exchange, copper pulled back to stand at $6 685.
"Copper has hit a three-week high as an enormous earthquake off the coast of Chile as sparked fears of a tsunami," said analyst David Madden at trading firm IG.
"Traders are concerned that copper supplies will suffer following the natural disaster."
Chile is the largest copper producer in the world and accounts for almost one-third of global supplies.
Copper has experienced volatile trading so far this year, diving last month on demand worries in top global consumer China.
The market had plunged last month to the lowest level for three and a half years on fears about the impact of that China's economic slowdown.
The industrial metal had dived on March 19 to a low point of $6 321 per tonne, before rebounded over the past fortnight.