Quick overview

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Copper rose on the first trading day of 2026, after capping the biggest annual gain since 2009 on prospects for a tighter market.

The red metal resumed its advance on Friday after losing 1.1% in the previous session.

Copper on the London Metal Exchange rallied 42% in 2025, underpinned by mine disruptions and concerns around tariffs, which have led traders to ramp up shipments to the US, creating tightness elsewhere.
Copper notched a series of all-time highs during an end-of-year surge, making it the best performer of the six industrial metals on the LME. Beyond the tariff-driven flows, mines in Indonesia to Chile, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo suffered accidents in 2025, crimping output. The red metal was 0.8% higher at $12,522.50 a ton at 10:45 a.m. Singapore time, after hitting a record of $12,960 on Monday.

Nickel climbed 0.8% to $16,780.00, while aluminum was little changed at $2,995.00. Iron ore futures in Singapore rose 0.2% to $105.60 a ton. Chinese markets are closed for a public holiday. This year, supply chain issues have dominated the metals industry, with accidents occurring in copper mines across Chile, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Zinc mines have also been disrupted, and increased energy costs and supply constraints in China pose a threat to aluminum production. The threat of US import tariffs remains the primary motivator for copper. The Mercuria Energy Group, Ltd. predicted in November that the rest of the world would experience a severe metal shortage in 2026.

According to Natalie Scott-Gray, senior metals analyst at StoneX Financial Ltd., copper is expected “to be led by sentiment from investors over US copper-specific tariffs, with focus on regional levels of global stocks and material entering the US, rather than underlying global fundamentals” in the upcoming months.