US copper price premium sinks on report that tariff plan stalls
XLB•Copper prices and the COMEX-LME spread
Benchmark copper CMCU3 on the LME was down 3% to $14,329.50 a metric ton at 1120 GMT after earlier hitting a record high of $14,875, while prices on the U.S. COMEX exchange HGc1 were down 4.7% to $6.49 a lb or $14,308 a ton. [MET/l]
COMEX copper has been trading well above the LME contract for months as traders shipped metal to the U.S. before a possible 15% tariff from the start of 2027.
Traders and producers have been sending copper to the U.S. since February last year when President Donald Trump ordered an investigation into the potential for import tariffs.
The drop shows just how long the market was, said one copper trader.
Tariff stall sends U.S. copper premium lower
The premium paid to ship copper to the U.S. fell sharply on Thursday after Reuters reported that Washington's plans to impose a tariff on imports of the metal had stalled.
