Copper is 2025's Hottest Commodity

The price gap in copper market opens a lucrative window for traders to buy abroad, deliver to panicked US buyers

- Ryan Dezember

Copper prices in the U.S. have surged ahead of those in the rest of the world and hit a record last week, a sign the mere threat of tariffs is lifting costs for domestic manufacturers.

Benchmark U.S. copper futures ended Friday at $5.1125 a pound, up 28% this year. That compares with a 13% gain to $9,795 a metric ton—or about $4.44 a pound—on the London Metal Exchange, which is the global trading hub.

It is an unprecedented gap in prices that have otherwise moved for decades in near lockstep.

Copper suppliers and domestic manufacturers that consume it are rushing to move the metal into the U.S. ahead of import taxes that have been threatened by President Trump.

Copper is used in manufacturing everything from automobiles to mobile phones and in construction, where it is used to convey electricity and water in wires and pipes. Consumption surged in recent decades as China modernized and has lately gotten a boost from the growth in renewable energy production and the boom in data-center construction.

U.S. copper futures have been the top performer among major commodities in the first quarter. Prices for the industrial metal last week topped the record set in May but have since pulled back. Copper's gains have outpaced the 24% rise in lumber futures, which was also fueled by uncertainty over tariffs.