Overview
- LME three-month copper rose 1.4% to about $11,670 after touching a record near $11,952 last week, with traders warned of choppy intraday moves into year-end.
- Bearish positions are being cut or rolled ahead of Wednesday’s LME settlement, and roughly 39% of exchange stocks are marked for delivery.
- Comex inventories continue to see record inflows as arbitrage favors the U.S., with refined copper excluded from August tariffs but still under review by policymakers.
- Analysts point to AI data centers and the energy transition as durable demand drivers alongside mine disruptions, even as China’s factory output slows and home prices fall.
- Goldman Sachs lifted its 2026 average copper forecast to $11,400 on lower near-term tariff odds, projecting a persistent U.S. premium and a larger 2026 surplus.