London Metal Exchange three-month copper printed fresh records early this month as tariff fears and inventory scrambling lifted prices. Secondary reports place Tuesday’s intraday peak in the mid-to-high $14,700s a tonne, with SMM citing about $14,728 and other market notes citing about $14,779. Those peaks conflict, and an official Sep. 8 LME settlement was not available in secondary coverage. No single secondary peak should be treated as the official settle.
A cleaner paired session from Monday coverage shows a reported high of $14,533 a tonne and a close near $14,510. Drivers across wires include possible U.S. refined-copper tariff paths that are not finalized, elevated COMEX inventories near about 695,000 to 696,000 tons, and LME stock draws that widen COMEX-LME arbitrage. COMEX copper futures also ran hot into Wednesday. This is an industrial-metal inventory story, not oil or European gas. An official LME settle was not confirmed in this report.
Sources: SMM Sep. 9; Metapress/Bloomberg Sep. 7-8 secondary; Yahoo HG=F; official LME settle unavailable in secondary coverage.
