Copper prices surge
Copper has climbed sharply this year amid rising demand from AI data centers, defense projects and electrification, moving from about $9,173 per metric ton in April 2025 to roughly $12,951 per metric ton in early 2026. The market is also reacting to a U.S. proclamation on April 2 that restructured Section 232 tariffs on copper and to Chile’s push to speed up copper permitting, both of which signal tight supply and growing strategic focus on copper production. (247wallst.com) (markets.financialcontent.com) (bloomberg.com)
Copper prices are climbing again, with benchmark metal near record territory in April after a year of supply shocks and policy moves. (lme.com) London Metal Exchange cash copper averaged $9,192.13 a metric ton in April 2025 and $13,088.88 in January 2026 before easing to $12,451.00 so far in April 2026, according to monthly exchange data. (westmetall.com) The International Monetary Fund’s monthly copper series shows $9,330.98 per metric ton in February 2025 and $12,951.34 in February 2026, a 38.8% year-over-year increase. (ycharts.com) A White House fact sheet issued after President Donald Trump’s April 2, 2026 proclamation said the administration was strengthening Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper imports, adding a new trade signal to a market already dealing with tight supply. (whitehouse.gov) The Federal Register notice for that proclamation says it amended earlier Section 232 actions, including Proclamation 10962 on copper, under the national-security authority in the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. (federalregister.gov) Copper is the metal that carries electricity through wires, transformers and motors, so demand rises when countries build more power lines, electric vehicles and data centers. The International Energy Agency said in March that copper is “at the heart” of a more electrified energy system. (iea.org) S&P Global said global copper demand is projected to rise from 28.3 million metric tons in 2025 to 42.4 million by 2040, driven by electrification, the energy transition, artificial intelligence and data centers. The same report said mined copper output is expected to peak around 2030 and then decline by 2040. (spglobal.com) The data-center piece is not just about more servers. S&P Global said United States data centers are on track to use 14% of the country’s electricity by 2030, up from 5% in 2025, and that new cooling and power systems are adding to copper use inside those facilities. (spglobal.com) Supply has not kept up. J.P. Morgan said in November that it expected a global refined copper deficit of about 330,000 metric tons in 2026 after mine disruptions in Indonesia and weaker output guidance in Chile tightened the market. (jpmorgan.com) The International Energy Agency said copper briefly exceeded $14,500 per tonne intraday in January 2026 and warned that, based on the current project pipeline, the market could face a 30% supply deficit by 2035. (iea.org) Chile, the world’s biggest copper producer, is now trying to move projects faster. Bloomberg reported on April 13 that Economy and Mining Minister Daniel Mas said the new government wants to speed permitting and regulatory changes to lift copper output sooner than previously projected. (bloomberg.com) For manufacturers and utilities, that leaves copper trading like a strategic input rather than a routine industrial metal: expensive, policy-sensitive and hard to replace. (iea.org)
