LME Copper price

The official copper price of the latest session

In the session of October 23, 2026, the official copper price on the London Metal Exchange — the Official Cash offer (ask), the reference for supply contracts — was 14,415 US dollars per tonne: 12,881 euros per tonne at the LME exchange rate of the same session (1.1191 dollars per euro), or 12.88 euros per kilo. It rose by 1.41% from the previous session.

On this site we publish the official price of the previous session, just as the LME does on its own website. Prices of the current session are restricted: the LME grants them only to users of authorised data vendors, who pay the exchange fees. That is the FT Mercati service: subscribers follow Cash, three months and the other prompt dates, closing prices and stocks in real time, and buy and sell metal, semi-finished and finished products at the value of the moment.

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Copper: what it is and where it is used

After silver, copper is the best conductor of electricity and heat; it is ductile, resists corrosion and can be recycled without loss of quality — about a third of the copper used every year comes from recycling. That is why it is the metal of electricity: cables and wires, transmission grids, motors, transformers, electronics.

The rest goes into construction (pipes, roofing, installations), transport — an electric car contains several times more copper than a conventional one — and industrial machinery. Mine supply is dominated by Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Peru; China is the largest refiner and consumer.

The LME copper contract

What is traded on the LME is not «copper» in general but a standard contract that defines exactly what is delivered: quality, shape, lot weight, prompt dates and delivery rules. This standard, the same for everyone, is what makes the LME price a reference all over the world. The main terms:

At expiry the contract settles by physical delivery: the buyer receives warrants, the documents of title to lots of metal of LME-approved brands stored in the exchange's approved warehouses — around 400 in 32 locations worldwide, according to the LME. Most positions, however, are closed before the prompt date: the contract is used above all to fix prices and to hedge risk.

In 2025 more than 170,000 lots of copper were traded on average every day.

Source: contract specifications published by the LME.

What drives the copper price

The copper price reflects above all the balance between slow supply — opening a new mine takes many years — and demand driven by power grids, electric vehicles and renewables, with China as the world's largest buyer.

Exchange stocks also matter, as do the dollar (a strong dollar makes copper more expensive for buyers in other currencies), interest rates and, in recent years, tariffs, which have split the London and New York prices. Our copper price guide explains how these factors produced the record highs.

How to read it: official price, three months, euros and premium

The LME publishes several prices every day. The reference for supply contracts is the Official Price, set in the midday trading session (the Ring): a bid and an offer for each prompt date. The Cash Settlement — the offer side of the official Cash — is the number that ends up on invoices; the end-of-day Closing Price is used mainly for margining and valuations.

Cash means delivery in two business days; three months is the rolling prompt about 90 days ahead. When three months is above Cash (contango), metal is available; when it is below (backwardation), metal is scarce right now and whoever needs it immediately pays a premium.

To convert into euros, divide the dollar price by the EUR/USD rate recorded at the LME in the same session; for euros per kilo, divide again by one thousand. The price a company actually pays then adds the regional physical premium, which covers transport, local availability, duties and product shape.

For the Italian market there is also a euro reference that already includes premiums: the Copper for semi-finished products Milan index published by FT Mercati.