LME Copper Spreads Hit 2021 Levels as Stockpiles Keep Falling
LME front-month copper spread reached a $370 per ton premium and inventories fell for a 42nd straight day, signaling extreme near-term supply tightness.
Copper's near-term supply premium has jumped sharply. The LME front-month spread reached a $370 per ton premium on Friday, the widest one-month spread since the 2021 supply squeeze. The cash-to-three-month spread rose to $434 per ton, also the highest since 2021, prompting the LME to tighten its market controls.
Stockpiles underline the tightness. LME copper inventories have fallen for 42 consecutive days, the longest streak since 2014, to 204,975 tons, with nearly half of the remaining metal already scheduled for withdrawal.
At the same time, traders and producers are redirecting copper to the US, where tariff expectations on refined copper are pushing prices above LME levels and creating arbitrage opportunities. The copper supply crunch is far from over.
Source: The Kobeissi Letter