Copper prices are surging toward the $12,000 mark, fueled by a perfect storm of supply disruptions, frantic artificial intelligence (AI) demand, and what analysts are calling a "highly irregular" market distortion triggered by U.S. trade policy fears. With the metal currently trading near record highs, touching $11,952 per ton on the London Metal Exchange (LME) last Friday, major financial institutions are aggressively revising their forecasts upward. Citi analysts now predict copper could hit $13,000 per ton in early 2026 and skyrocket to $15,000…