Copper surges to record price on London Metal Exchange amid tariff expectations

Copper hit an all-time intraday high of $14,527.50 per metric ton on the London Metal Exchange on January 29, 2026. By early September, prices were still hovering around $14,430 per metric ton, suggesting this isn’t a spike so much as a new altitude. The proximate cause is a familiar one in 2026: US tariff policy. An ongoing Section 232 investigation into copper imports has markets convinced that significant duties are coming, with proposals circulating for a 15% tariff starting January 2027, potentially rising to 30% by 2028. When traders see a price cliff approaching, they buy now. A lot. The front-loading effect The mechanics here are straightforward. If you’re a US manufacturer who needs copper and you believe it’s about to get 15% more expensive on January 1, you accelerate every purchase you can. Multiply that logic across an entire industrial economy and you get July 2026’s import numbers: a record 225,094 metric tons of refined copper flowing into the US in a single month. The result is a bifurcated global market. US Comex copper inventories swelled to record levels somewhere between 695,000 and 766,000 short tons, a stockpile that reflects pure defensive buying. Meanwhile,...