Copper Hits All-Time High on Tariff Anticipation

Copper prices surged to an all-time high on the London Metal Exchange (LME), fueled by anticipation of US tariffs on refined metal imports. Benchmark three-month futures gained as much as 0.8% to trade at $14,533 a ton, surpassing the previous record set in January.

The rally has been driven by a long-term mismatch between supply and demand, with the world's ageing fleet of big mines struggling to keep pace with usage from data centers, renewable energy, and power grids. The metal's 17% advance over the past year has underpinned this trend.

Shorter-term factors have also come into play, particularly the hundreds of thousands of tons shipped to the US this year by traders seeking to profit from higher prices there. The market is still pricing in the possibility of tariffs on primary copper imports, two months after the Department of Commerce was due to issue a report to the White House.