Copper price breaks record at $14.533 per ton

Copper has reached a historic record of $14.533 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange (LME), an increase of 47% compared with a year ago. The price rise is driven by a combination of tightening supply and rising demand from data centres, renewable energy and power grids. In addition, expectations around US import tariffs on copper are putting further pressure on the market.

In brief:

• The copper price on the LME is rising to a record high of $14.533 per tonne, more than 47% higher than a year ago.
• Expected US import tariffs on refined copper are prompting traders to ship large volumes of copper to the US.
• Global inventories are becoming increasingly concentrated in the US, causing LME stocks to shrink rapidly.

Tariffs push copper towards the US

A significant part of the price rise is linked to expectations that President Trump will extend import tariffs to refined copper. This has pushed the price on the US Comex exchange above the global price level.

The price differential makes it attractive for traders to ship copper to the US. According to the Kobeissi Letter, this involves hundreds of thousands of tonnes this year.

LME stocks fall to critical level

As a result, global copper inventories are accumulating increasingly in the US, while available volumes on the LME are declining sharply. Buyers outside the US are therefore finding it harder to obtain the metal.

A Bloomberg chart shows how steep the price surge has been, with the copper price climbing from a level of around $10.000 per tonne to the current record in 2026. Whether supply to the rest of the world can improve in the short term will depend heavily on the further course of US tariff policy.