Copper Price Today: Live Copper Prices, Charts & Forecast

The copper price for SMM 1# copper cathode stands at $15,665.76 per tonne as of 3 August 2026, according to Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) benchmark data — up further, approximately 4.4% month-on-month, from the $15,004.04/tonne SMM reading in July. On the international market, COMEX copper trades at $6.4432/lb (~$14,209/tonne) as of the same date, up 6.7% on the month and near a two-week high. Both benchmarks have now risen together this cycle, narrowing the gap that widened sharply in July — SMM domestic sits at roughly a 10.3% premium to COMEX, down from a wider spread last month. Trading Economics attributes the international move to tightening Chinese concentrate and scrap copper shortages, which are pushing treatment charges and market spreads higher, even as Chinese manufacturing activity itself slowed to a four-month low in July. A global copper deficit estimated at 200,000 tonnes for 2026 continues to provide a structural price floor alongside persistent supply disruptions and accelerating data centre and grid electrification demand. For the broader monthly price context see our Critical Minerals Market June 2026 analysis.

Copper is benchmarked on two primary exchanges: the London Metal Exchange (LME), which sets the global industry reference price in $/tonne, and COMEX (CME Group), which trades in US dollars per pound and is the dominant futures market for North American participants. Both benchmarks move in close correlation; the conversion factor is approximately 2,204.6 lb per tonne. The SMM 1# cathode benchmark — China domestic, VAT-inclusive — is used as the primary monthly update reference on this page, with COMEX shown as the international comparison.

Current Copper Price — Domestic, COMEX and LME

Last updated: 3 August 2026. SMM 1# Copper Cathode (SMM-CU-RC-001) is the China Domestic benchmark, VAT-inclusive (13%). COMEX is shown as the International benchmark, VAT-excluded. This cycle, both benchmarks moved higher together, narrowing rather than extending July’s unusually wide gap.

Copper Price History

The copper price reached multi-year highs in 2022 driven by post-pandemic demand recovery and supply disruptions across South American mining operations. A correction followed through 2023 as Chinese demand growth slowed sharply. The 2024–2025 period saw prices stabilise before recovery through early 2026, with the April intra-month COMEX record of $6.12/lb reflecting simultaneous supply shocks and structural electrification demand. August’s COMEX reading of $6.4432/lb has now moved decisively past that April high, approaching $6.50/lb intraday — a genuine new high for the period tracked on this page, driven by Chinese concentrate and scrap shortages tightening the international market even as domestic Chinese factory activity softens.

Historical data sourced from COMEX via Trading Economics, SMM, and LME official data. Production context: USGS National Minerals Information Center.

Copper Price in USD, EUR, GBP and Other Currencies

Exchange rates: Google Finance/XE, August 2026. Conversions calculated from the SMM China Domestic benchmark. CNY figures reflect the USD/CNY mid-market rate and do not represent the SMM domestic Chinese price, which incorporates VAT and may differ materially.

Copper Price Per Gram, Per Ounce and Per Pound

What Is Driving the Copper Price

Supply Disruptions

Two concurrent supply shocks drove the April 2026 rally and continue to support elevated prices. The Middle East conflict disrupted sulphur shipments to China, prompting Beijing to restrict exports of sulphuric acid — a critical input for approximately half of Chile’s copper refining operations. Simultaneously, the Grasberg mine in Indonesia — one of the world’s largest copper operations — declared force majeure following a fatal mudslide. These disruptions have not fully resolved, keeping processing costs elevated and near-term mine supply constrained. This cycle, Trading Economics adds a further concrete mechanism: shortages of copper concentrate and scrap copper specifically within China have pushed treatment charges and market spreads higher, a direct squeeze on smelter margins layered on top of the existing mine-supply disruptions. Chile’s state-owned Codelco continues to manage ageing mine infrastructure and declining ore grades at its largest operations, adding a structural headwind to South American supply growth, even as June 2026 Chilean output (447,290 tonnes) came in well above the prior reading. The Rio Tinto Los Azules copper stake analysis covers the South American copper development pipeline.

Tariff and Trade Policy Risk

Traders have grown increasingly cautious over the prospect of new US tariffs on copper, a dynamic that has reportedly encouraged the diversion of copper shipments into the US ahead of any formal announcement. This kind of pre-positioning can create its own short-term price and inventory distortions independent of underlying industrial demand, and is worth monitoring as a factor distinct from the supply-disruption and electrification themes driving the medium-term price floor.

Data Centre and Electrification Demand

Major technology firms continue to secure long-term supply agreements tied to rapid data centre expansion. AI infrastructure buildout has emerged as a structural copper price demand driver alongside EV charging and grid investment — data centre construction requires significant copper volumes in power distribution, cooling systems, and connectivity infrastructure. The structural demand case from electrification is covered in our AI critical minerals demand analysis. The International Energy Agency projects copper demand from clean energy applications to grow substantially through 2030, though the pace of that growth is subject to revision based on policy continuity and technology substitution.

China Demand and Supply Geography

China remains the world’s largest copper consumer, but the loss of demand momentum — zero growth in 2025 versus approximately 700,000 tonnes of annual demand growth between 2010 and 2020 — has removed key structural support. This cycle offers a clearer read on last month’s domestic/international divergence than was available at the time: private data now shows Chinese manufacturing activity slowing to a four-month low in July, with China’s Politburo signalling it will rely on existing policy tools rather than broad-based stimulus. That combination — softer factory activity alongside tightening domestic concentrate and scrap supply — helps explain why both the domestic premium and the international price are elevated simultaneously, driven by different mechanisms on each side. Chile accounts for over one third of global copper mining output, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru, China, the United States, Australia, Indonesia, Zambia, Canada, and Poland. Africa’s copper output — split between the DRC and Zambia — is covered on the Africa critical minerals page.

Copper Price: Western Supply Development

Unlike battery-specific minerals such as lithium or cobalt, copper has an established Western mining and processing base. The United States, Australia, Canada, and Poland all operate significant copper mining and smelting capacity. The strategic concern is less about total supply adequacy and more about processing concentration — a meaningful share of copper concentrate is refined in China before re-export. US copper infrastructure is attracting renewed attention: Prysmian is evaluating a new copper mill in Texas to serve data centre and grid electrification demand.

In South America, Peru’s output has continued recovering from community and regulatory disruption that constrained production in 2022–2023, with March 2026 output (238,464 tonnes) up on the prior reading. Production data for Chile and Peru is tracked on the South America critical minerals page. The EU Critical Raw Materials Act designates copper as a strategic material, though Western processing capacity remains heavily reliant on South American mine output and Chinese refining.

Copper Price Outlook

The near-term copper price outlook reflects competing forces: supply disruption, tightening Chinese concentrate and scrap availability, and electrification demand on one side; softer Chinese manufacturing activity, tariff-driven trade distortions, and the absence of broad-based Chinese stimulus on the other. The August SMM domestic figure of $15,665.76/tonne remains above the COMEX international equivalent of ~$14,209/tonne, though the gap has narrowed materially from July as both benchmarks rose together — a healthier signal than last month’s widening divergence, though still worth tracking for whether it continues converging or re-widens. A global copper deficit estimated at 200,000 tonnes for 2026 provides a structural floor, though the figure remains subject to revision from the International Copper Study Group.

Analysts at Wood Mackenzie, S&P Global Commodity Insights, and Fastmarkets have flagged the risk of a longer-than-expected surplus period if Chinese property sector weakness persists alongside slower-than-forecast Western grid investment — a risk this cycle’s soft Chinese manufacturing PMI data does little to dispel, even as the metal itself trades near multi-month highs. Medium-term demand drivers remain structurally intact: grid electrification, EV charging infrastructure, renewable energy installations, and data centre construction all require significant copper volumes. All forecasts should be treated as indicative rather than definitive. For parallel analysis of LME-traded base metals under similar demand-side pressures, see the LME Metals data and our nickel price tracker.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Prices are subject to change without notice.