{
  "id": 3322183,
  "title": "Copper price sets fresh record as US tariff threat wipes out global surplus",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/copper-price-sets-fresh-record-as-us-tariff-threat-wipes-out-global",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-25T17:59:22.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mining.com",
    "slug": "mining-com",
    "url": "https://www.mining.com/copper-price-sets-fresh-record-as-us-tariff-threat-wipes-out-global-surplus/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Copper prices reached a new record high on Tuesday, closing near all-time highs in both New York and London, as a threat of US import tariffs drove metal into American warehouses and turned a global surplus into scarcity elsewhere. Comex copper for September delivery surged up to $6.7270 a pound, shattering the previous record of $6.7140 set on August 12. The contract traded at a premium of nearly 4% above the London price, which itself had hit an all-time high of $14,527.50. Copper had previously peaked at $14,396 a tonne on August 17, but a surge of returning metal pushed the price back towards $14,000. Warehouse stocks in the London Metal Exchange (LME) surged 74.5% in a week, with the cash premium over three-month metal dwindling to $248 from a five-year high of $434. The reprieve was short-lived as metal resumed its march across the Atlantic to Comex, where inventories reached a record 675,185 tonnes over 46 straight days. US imports of refined copper in the first half of the year rose 3% year-over-year, with traders positioning for potential tariff hikes. Analysts warned that the market may look more like a deficit market in reality, with a projected global surplus of 639,000 tonnes for 2026.",
  "summary": "CRU now calls its forecast 639kt surplus \"at best balanced\", while Southern Copper's mad surge leaves Wall Street price targets more than 20% behind.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}