Copper

Copper prices in the U.S. have surged ahead of those in the rest of world and hit a record last week, a sign the mere threat of tariffs is lifting costs for domestic manufacturers.

Benchmark U.S. copper futures ended Monday at $5.02 a pound, up 26% this year. That compares with an 11% gain to $9,673 a metric ton, or about $4.39 a pound, on the London Metal Exchange, which is the global trading hub.

U.S. copper futures have been the top performer among major commodities in the first quarter. Prices for the industrial metal last week topped the record set in May but have since pulled back. Copper’s gains have outpaced the 21% rise in lumber futures, which was also fueled by uncertainty over tariffs.

Source – Wall Street Journal

US tariffs on copper imports may be coming within weeks, months earlier than Donald Trump’s original deadline for a decision, according to people familiar. He’s previously threatened a duty of 25% on one of the world’s most important metals—and it’s hurting American factories already. The price of copper traded in New York jumped to a record high. Keep on top of the latest with our tariff tracker.

Source – Bloomberg

Glencore has suspended production and declared force majeure on copper shipments from its Altonorte smelter in Chile due to an issue affecting the plant’s furnace, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, in a setback that comes just as traders and producers race to ship more metal to the U.S. ahead of tariffs.

Much of the copper produced in Chile is shipped to the U.S., where Comex prices have surged to record highs on worries about shortages due to tariffs; the most active Comex copper contract (HG1:COM) for May delivery hit $5.374/lb, or $11,847/metric ton on Wednesday.

Source – Seeking Alpha

Goldman Sachs on Wednesday maintained its London Metal Exchange copper price forecasts for the next year, and said it expected the implementation of U.S. tariffs on copper imports to prevent a U.S. stock glut in the third quarter.

Goldman forecasts three-, six-, and twelve-month LME copper prices at $9,600, $10,000 and $10,700 per metric ton respectively. The bank flagged a near-term downside risk to prices from a trade policy update due to take effect on April 2.

Source – Reuters

Copper is generally a good indicator because it’s used all over the economy — in factories, houses, electronics and streetlights, per Chris Berry, founder and president of House Mountain Partners.

“The next time you’re on an airplane at night, and you’re coming in for a landing, and you see any lights or anything like that, every single one of those lights is working because of the electrical conductivity of copper,” he said.

So, if the economy is growing, and we’re building more, we’ll need more copper. 

Source – Market Place

Copper’s rise is likely led by Trump’s tariffs, weakening its appeal as leading indicator for risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.

Source – Coin Desk

Copper traded on the London Metal Exchange has jumped 14 per cent this year and reached $US10,046.50 a tonne on Thursday, the highest since October.

“Traders are redirecting the metal from Asia to take advantage of the price premium and skirt any potential tariffs on the metal,” said ANZ senior commodity strategist Daniel Hynes.

“The US copper rush could leave the rest of the world tight on copper if demand picks up more quickly than expected,” said ING commodity strategist Ewa Manthey.

Source – Financial Review

India’s steel-to-power conglomerate JSW Group plans to set up a 500,000 metric ton capacity copper smelter in the eastern state of Odisha by 2028/29 with feedstock of copper concentrate from Peru and Chile, a source directly aware of the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

JSW plans to feed its planned electric vehicle and battery manufacturing facilities with the copper produced at the smelter, the source added. Some of the concentrate supply will come from Hindustan Copper, the source said.

Source – Reuters

The U.S. will soon be flooded with massive amounts of copper shipments in a global rush to front-run President Trump’s probable tariffs, with 100K-150K metric tons of refined copper expected to arrive in U.S. ports in the coming weeks, which potentially would surpass the all-time record of 136,951 tons set in January 2022, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs analysts said they expect all forms of copper shipped to the U.S. to be hit with tariffs by year-end, keeping Comex prices at a hefty premium over other benchmarks, and noted that tariffs could cause China to refine 10K-20K tons/month less copper within the first three months – in a global market that Goldman already expected to face a 180K-ton deficit this year.

Source – Seeking Alpha

Copper’s rise is being driven “solely by supply concerns surrounding the potential for universal tariffs to be placed on all imports of copper into the U.S.,” said Natalie Scott-Gray, a senior metals demand analyst at StoneX. The U.S. is “heavily reliant on foreign copper, with imports accounting for [around] 45% of demand.”

Copper prices have climbed more than 23% in 2025 through Monday, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Source – Market Watch