Copper Holds Near Record as Comex Warehouses Corner Most Global Exchange Stocks
LME three-month copper eased to $14,606.50 a tonne after testing resistance above $14,800, with Comex warehouses now holding 69% of the roughly 1 million tonnes of copper tracked by global exchanges. Gold slid to a one-week low near $4,271 as the dollar hit a two-month high.
Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 1% to $14,606.50 a tonne after touching $14,833, its highest since the record $14,875 set on September 10. Comex copper hit a record peak of $6.83 per pound, equivalent to $15,057 a tonne, on September 22 before retreating. The pullback followed a Reuters report that the White House had yet to decide on copper import tariffs amid affordability concerns, but LME copper is still up about 18% year to date.
The tightness is as much geographic as fundamental. After months of heavy inflows, Comex warehouses now hold 69% of the roughly 1 million tonnes of copper tracked by global exchanges, leaving the rest of the world short. Half of the 252,500 tonnes sitting in LME-registered warehouses has already been earmarked for delivery, and the LME cash-to-three-month spread swung to a premium of $65 a tonne from a discount of $86 on September 14. RBC Capital Markets said buyers are willing to pay up to secure metal sooner, reinforcing the tighter-market narrative.
Demand signals are firm into China's holiday shutdown on September 25 and October 1-7, while the supply side remains exposed to labour talks at BHP's Escondida, where supervisors' union has urged rejection of the latest contract offer. Elsewhere on the LME, aluminium slipped 0.5% to $3,248 a tonne, zinc fell 0.4% to $3,894.50, lead eased 0.9% to $1,918, nickel lost 1.1% to $16,445 and tin was down 0.8% at $53,765.
Precious metals moved the other way. Spot gold declined 0.4% to $4,271.16 an ounce on September 24 morning in New York, its lowest since September 16, while December US futures lost 0.3% to $4,306. The dollar climbed to a two-month high and 10-year Treasury yields hovered near a two-decade high, raising the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion after the Federal Reserve signalled a more hawkish path. Spot silver fell 1.8% to $63.29, platinum eased 0.2% to $1,746.44 and palladium gained 0.5% to $1,266.40.