Copper prices advanced in both New York and London markets as investors await a crucial decision on US tariffs. According to reports from Bloomberg, the US Commerce Secretary has until June 30 to provide an updated recommendation to President Donald Trump on tariffs for refined copper, the most widely traded form of the metal. The Commerce Department previously shocked the copper market by deciding not to impose fees last year, instead recommending a staged introduction of levies starting at 15% on the first day of 2027. This recommendation is expected to be revisited by the end of this month, with a 15% tariff already recommended but not yet enacted. The Trump administration in April 2026 maintained core 50% duties on many imported copper products under national-security authority, causing a 17% spike in futures as reported on NaturalNews.com.
Copper prices demonstrated strong performance across major exchanges, with copper on the LME up 0.4% to $13,687.50 a ton on Monday by 11:44 a.m. in Shanghai, according to Bloomberg reports. On Comex, copper was heading for its highest close since May 14 with a gain of 1% to $6.45 a pound. The metal has racked up a 5% gain in May, benefiting from renewed flows of metal to American ports as the premium of US prices over the rest of the world has expanded again. As reported by NaturalNews.com, front-month Comex contracts now trading more than $500 a ton above LME cash prices, levels not seen since last autumn. The revived trade is tightening global availability, with executives predicting that US imports could return to historically elevated rates of 150,000 to 200,000 tons per month based on current pricing spreads. According to NaturalNews.com, copper prices reached as high as $13,746 a ton in London, up about 43% in the past year.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its price outlook for copper on the London Metal Exchange, raising its end-year forecasts by more than 10% as reported by Bloomberg. The investment bank now expects copper to finish 2026 at $13,735 a ton, versus a previous forecast of $12,465 a ton. According to analysts including Aurelia Waltham, US imports beat expectations in H1 2026, and they expect US imports to reaccelerate over the coming month, reflecting the now-open import arbitrage. The bank's base case assumes the US will again delay any tariffs on refined metal, which would support continued import flows and maintain market tightness. As reported by NaturalNews.com, investor positioning on Comex reached the most bullish since December 2020, driven by enthusiasm about artificial intelligence.
Current geopolitical tensions are significantly complicating copper logistics, with shipping South American copper to major U.S. ports taking much longer than usual as disruptions tied to the Iran war ripple through global freight markets and intensify congestion at the Panama Canal. According to NaturalNews.com, Trafigura Group last week moved to withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars of copper from LME warehouses, the largest withdrawal since 2013, with orders at least in part an attempt to capture premium prices on Comex. The withdrawal is draining already thin LME inventories. Nicholas Snowdon, chief metals economist at Mercuria Energy Group, stated that the copper market outside the U.S. is in deficit, with inventories already starting to be drawn down in China. China's copper imports surged to record highs in April 2025, driven by aggressive expansion of domestic smelting capacity and strategic stockpiling, sparking fears of a global supply crunch. The potential confirmation of tariffs could trigger a further supply squeeze in the second half of the year, drawing down LME inventories and keeping the market tight.
According to NaturalNews.com, the on-off threat of import tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump has dominated the copper market over the past year, often driving Comex prices above global benchmarks and creating arbitrage opportunities for traders. The revival of the copper tariff trade is exerting significant pressure on global supply, with traders redirecting metal to the U.S. amid speculation over future import duties. A combination of tariff uncertainty, logistical bottlenecks, strong demand from China, and bullish investor sentiment on AI is supporting historically high prices. Should Trump decide to impose tariffs on refined copper, the impact could further squeeze supplies on the LME, with traders saying that this could potentially open a window in the second half of the year when there would be a huge incentive for traders to ship copper to the United States. The immediate effect of US tariff policies is a tightening of global copper availability, even as the administration aims to boost domestic production.
