Overview
- Benchmark LME prices set a record near $12,960 this week, leaving copper up roughly 40% year to date for its biggest annual gain since 2009.
- Trade shifts tied to U.S. tariffs sent large volumes into COMEX warehouses, lifting U.S. inventories as LME stocks fell and widening regional price gaps.
- Supply tightness deepened after mine disruptions and pressure on smelters, with Freeport-McMoRan warning of missed contracts following the Grasberg mudslide.
- Developers and builders in the U.S. face higher material costs as tariffs on finished copper products compound the impact of elevated base-metal prices.
- Long-run demand expectations from electrification and a boom in AI/data-center construction supported the rally, while outlooks diverge for 2026 with JPMorgan more bullish than Goldman Sachs.