Copper prices extended their decline on Wednesday after traders delivered substantial volumes of the metal to the London Metal Exchange (LME), helping to unwind one of the largest short squeezes ever witnessed in the copper market. LME copper futures slipped 0.21% to $13,962.95 per metric ton at the time of writing, following a 1.2% drop the previous day—the sharpest single-session decline since July 23.
LME-tracked available copper inventories jumped by more than 20,000 tons on Tuesday, marking the biggest daily increase since April. Trafigura Group contributed a significant portion of that surge, while other trading houses are also arranging deliveries of copper into LME warehouses. Sources familiar with the matter indicated that additional copper is expected to be registered and warrant-issued at the exchange in the coming days.
This influx of metal has alleviated some of the upward pressure that had gripped the copper market. The squeeze had been fueled by traders positioning for potential import tariffs on refined copper under the Trump administration, which diverted large volumes of the metal to the United States and drained stockpiles across the rest of the globe. Shipping data compiled by IHS Markit shows that roughly 56,000 tons of copper arrived in the U.S. during the first two weeks of August. Excluding the record 223,000 tons imported in July, August's inflow is broadly in line with the monthly average seen over the past year or so.
Notably, the White House has yet to unveil a final policy decision, even though the June 30 deadline for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to submit tariff recommendations has already passed. Producers, industrial consumers, and trading firms are closely watching whether President Trump will expand existing trade protections on semi-fabricated copper products to include raw materials like refined copper.
Another sign that supply tightness is easing came from the closely watched spread between spot copper and the three-month futures contract, which narrowed to $248 per ton on Tuesday after spiking to a backwardation of $545 per ton on Monday. The Tom-next spread—the cost of rolling a position forward by one day—also retreated from levels that had surged to highs not seen since a major squeeze in 2021.
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