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(Bloomberg) — Copper advanced to the highest in two months, nearing $14,000 a ton in London, as traders monitored ballooning volumes held in the US ahead of an expected decision on an import tariff by President Donald Trump.
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Futures headed for a second daily gain on the London Metal Exchange, building on a rise of more than 3% last month. More than 200,000 tons of copper arrived at US ports in July, the biggest monthly volume recorded in IHS Markit shipping data going back to 2014. That’s added to a huge hoard in American warehouses and ports, and sapped availability for buyers in the rest of the world.
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The US influx has gathered pace despite uncertainty over plans for a tariff on refined copper. The Commerce Department was scheduled to deliver a recommendation by June 30, but a decision has yet to be announced. US prices remain at a premium to those on the LME, keeping the trade profitable.
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Copper has rallied about 12% this year, posting a record in January. Its performance has been aided by speculation about US trade policy, as well as deep-seated enthusiasm about prospects for global demand given the energy transition and build-out of artificial intelligence infrastructure. At the same time, new mines are getting harder to find and more expensive to develop.
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In the latest pointer that the LME market is tightening, prices moved to a steeper backwardation, a structure that points to a squeeze on short-term supplies. Nearby contracts traded at a premium of $99.50 a ton over three-month futures, up from about $30 a week ago and the widest since January.
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“The coming period will be a critical juncture for the announcement of US copper tariffs,” Jinrui Futures Co. wrote in a note. Still, demand from some buyers in China had already weakened in the face of high prices, the brokerage said.
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Copper rose 0.7% to $13,970 a ton at 3:31 p.m. in Shanghai, as all of the other five main LME metals also gained. Zinc advanced 0.8% from its highest close since 2022, while aluminum climbed to its priciest since mid-June.
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