Copper metal price on March 19: increased to peak

The most-active May copper futures contract on the Comex exchange in the US (HGc3) rose 0.6% to $4.99 a pound, after touching $5.025, its highest since May 2024.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0.1% to $9,869.50 a tonne, having hit a five-month peak of $9,892.

The Comex copper premium over LME prices widened to a record $1,192 a tonne on Tuesday, surpassing the peak reached on Feb. 13 and the most recent close of $1,126 a tonne.

“People are speculating about the spread between London and New York,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Copenhagen. “The biggest driver is whether we will see a 25% tariff, no tariff or somewhere in between.”

Traders have been paying a premium for metals prices hit by Trump’s campaign to impose tariffs on foreign imports to boost US industry, with LME copper up 12% in 2025.

US tariffs of 25% on steel and aluminium products took effect last week, while Trump has also ordered an investigation into the possibility of new tariffs on copper.

“As long as the tariffs are not announced, copper will leave the rest of the world and go to the US and that will tighten the global market while copper remains stuck in the US,” Hansen added.

LME copper inventories, those not allocated for delivery out of warehouses, have more than halved over the past month to 123,150 tonnes as traders sought to ship the material to the US.

Pressure on other metals prices is economic uncertainty in top metals consumer China.

Among other metals, LME aluminium fell 0.9% to $2,664 a tonne, zinc fell 0.9% to $2,931.50, nickel fell 1.2% to $16,230, while tin rose 0.5% to $35,365 and lead rose 0.5% to $2,092.50.