Copper Prices Soar on US Warehouse Shortage and Mine Disruptions

Copper prices surged by 3.3% intraday to $6.8410/lb on Comex and $14,710.50/t on the LME as visible stocks tightened.

The LME on-warrant inventory dropped to 133,725 t, while cash copper flipped from an $86/t discount to a $26/t backwardation in a week.

Comex warehouses now hold 696,204 t, approximately 69% of exchange-monitored copper, but storage at the Port of New Orleans is near capacity even as another 100,000 t from Africa and South America is due by October.

Supply disruptions at Grasberg and Kamoa-Kakula have removed roughly 600,000 t from 2026 mine output, supporting prices less than 2% below record highs.