Copper pulls back from record highs: $6.58 a pound

Updated September 27, 2026. · Written by Svetoslav Grigorov

VERIFIED Copper trades at $6.58 a pound on August 27, 2026, down 0.30% from the previous session, according to Trading Economics. Over the past month it is up 3.99%, and 47.17% over the past year.

What is behind the move

HYPOTHESIS Per Trading Economics, copper has approached record highs on falling warehouse inventories (down nearly half since mid-May) and supply disruptions — Zijin Mining warned that flooding at the Kamoa-Kakula complex (Democratic Republic of Congo) could cut its production by up to 57,000 tons this year, and Chile also expects lower output. US Section 232 tariffs and China's crackdown on scrap copper have further tightened global supply in 2026. This is the reading circulating this week, not a fact independently verified by this site.

HYPOTHESIS The latest pullback is attributed to a rebound in exchange warehouse stockpiles that has eased immediate shortage concerns, and to a stronger dollar. Analysts cited by the same source expect copper to reach $6.62 by the end of Q3 and $7.20 within 12 months.

CALCULATED From the $6.58 price cited above, the $6.62 end-of-Q3 target is only 0.61% higher, and the $7.20 12-month target is 9.42% higher. The 47.17% one-year gain also implies that copper traded at roughly $4.47 a pound twelve months ago (6.58 / 1.4717) — Claromercado's own calculation, not a figure published by the source.

What this does not mean

HYPOTHESIS A 0.30% daily dip does not contradict copper remaining near record highs and up nearly 50% over the past year: this is a pause within a strong uptrend, not a sign that the trend has reversed.

How it compares with precious metals

HYPOTHESIS Unlike gold and silver, which this site has seen move mostly on interest-rate expectations and their safe-haven role, copper responds mainly to physical supply on hand — inventories, strikes, mine flooding — and real industrial demand. It's a useful reminder that not every "commodity" moves for the same reason, even when they share a section on this site.

Follow-up (September 27, 2026)

VERIFIED Copper trades at $6.70 a pound on September 25, 2026, down 0.34% on the session, up 1.45% over the past month and up 42.12% over the past year, according to Trading Economics. The source puts its all-time high at $6.85 (September 2026) and now expects $6.70 by the end of Q3 and $7.36 within 12 months.

CALCULATED From $6.58 on August 27, copper is up 1.82%; it sits 2.19% below that $6.85 high and already 1.21% above the $6.62 end-of-quarter target the same source gave in August. Its 12-month target has risen 2.22% (from $7.20 to $7.36) — Claromercado's own calculation, not a figure published by the source.

VERIFIED On the inventories this article cited as a price driver: on September 22, 2026, copper stocks on the London Metal Exchange (LME) stood at 254,250 tonnes and COMEX (New York) stocks at 696,776 tonnes, according to DiscoveryAlert.

CALCULATED Adding both exchanges, COMEX holds 73.27% of those stocks, 2.74 times the LME's — Claromercado's own calculation, not a figure published by the source.

HYPOTHESIS That split helps explain why "rebounding inventories" and scarcity are discussed at the same time: much of the stored metal sits in the United States, where tariffs have drawn it, rather than where European or Asian consumers need it. This is this site's reading, not a figure from the source.

Source consulted on August 27, 2026: Trading Economics: Copper. Additional sources consulted on September 27, 2026: Trading Economics: Copper (updated price), DiscoveryAlert: Copper Price Signals Tightening as LME Stocks Fall.

Educational notice: this article is analysis based on public data, may be wrong, and is not financial advice. It is not a buy or sell recommendation. The decision and the risk are always the reader's own.