Copper hits over six-month high as LME supply concerns mount

Copper prices climbed to their highest level in more than six months on Monday as supply concerns mounted on the London Metal Exchange, where inventories have fallen to their lowest since February, according to Reuters report.

Benchmark copper rose 1.1% to $14,310 a metric ton in official LME trading after reaching $13,396 earlier. The metal, widely used in the power and construction industries, touched a record $14,527.5 in January.

Inventories in LME-approved warehouses have halved since May to less than 210,000 tons as traders shifted copper to the United States ahead of possible tariffs on refined-metal imports.

Cancelled warrants, which represent metal earmarked for delivery, accounted for 50% of inventories, signalling that more copper could leave the LME system.

“Although the official data is not yet published, we expect to see record-high imports for July. They’ve been high all year,” said Albert Mackenzie, an analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

However, traders said rising premiums, or backwardations, for near-term copper contracts over longer-dated futures should begin attracting metal back to LME warehouses.
The premium for cash copper over the three-month contract closed at $416.29 on Friday, its highest since November 2021. The LME cash copper contract reached a record $14,830 a ton on Monday.Copper deliveries to LME warehouses totalled 3,700 tons on Friday, compared with outflows of 850 tons.

Meanwhile, copper stocks in Comex-registered warehouses have climbed nearly 700% to 735,470 short tons, or 667,207 metric tons, since U.S. President Donald Trump proposed import tariffs in February last year.

Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange have fallen more than 80% since mid-March to 69,731 tons.

The Yangshan premium, a measure of China’s demand for imported copper, has declined to $90 a ton from $115 on July 22, but remains 350% higher than in January.

Industrial metals were also supported by a weaker U.S. dollar, which makes dollar-denominated commodities cheaper for buyers using other currencies.

Aluminium rose 0.5% to $3,270, zinc gained 0.2% to $3,766, lead was little changed at $1,896, tin added 0.5% to $56,450 and nickel advanced 0.3% to $16,860.