Current Copper Price and Copper Rate with Charts & Calculators
Copper is the quintessential industrial metal and is regarded by financial markets as a leading indicator for the global economy — earning it the nickname "Dr. Copper". From power grids to electric vehicles to renewable energy: modern infrastructure simply cannot function without copper. Here you will find the current copper price in euros and US dollars, updated live during trading hours. The chart, performance table and seasonality analysis reveal trends and patterns in the price trajectory. In the guide below, learn why the energy transition is massively increasing copper demand, which countries are the largest producers and how copper as an asset class differs from the traditional precious metals.
Here you see the current Copper price per troy ounce (31.1 g) in your selected currency, including daily change in percent and absolute.
Below you find the current exchange rate and the price in the second currency. At the bottom are the prices per gram, troy ounce and kilogram.
Tip: When the market is open, the price updates automatically every minute.
Copper price details →
Source: Spot
Use this chart to follow the Copper price minute by minute or decade by decade. Whichever span you pick, holding the cursor over the line calls up the precise figure recorded on that date.
A row of buttons sits above the chart, from Today at one end to Max at the other. Select a stretch with the mouse to enlarge it. The three cards underneath keep score: highest, lowest and overall change.
Tip: The Today view is built from live ticks, one data point for each minute of the session.
(24/08/26)
(21/08/26)
(23/08/26)
(23/08/26)
(06/08/26)
Choose any day in the archive and the tool returns the full Copper record for it — where trading opened and closed, how high and how low it went, and what that works out at per gram and per kilogram.
Tip: Choose a date. Where the requested day brought no trading at all, the nearest session on file is returned in its place.
| 21/08/2026 | EUR | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Open | 0.39 € | 0.45 $ |
| High | 0.39 € | 0.46 $ |
| Low | 0.39 € | 0.45 $ |
| Close | 0.39 € | 0.46 $ |
Source: Spot
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Getting something out of what you see and read?
We put our whole heart into keeping preciousmetalprices.com fast, tidy and free — no paywalls, no clutter, just facts and live prices you can trust. If it’s any help to you, the nicest way to say thanks is to pass it along. Every share helps another investor find us and keeps the whole project ticking over. 💛
Here you can see the current copper price converted to different weight units: gram, troy ounce (31.1 g) and kilogram.
The second row shows the price in the other currency for comparison.
Tip: A troy ounce is the international trading unit for precious metals and equals 31.1035 grams.
1 Troy Ounce = 31.1035 Grams
The performance table shows how the Copper price has developed over various time periods: from today to 5 years.
You can see the absolute change in both currencies as well as the percentage change. Green values indicate gain, red values indicate loss.
Tip: Compare the EUR and USD performance to identify the impact of the exchange rate.
| Period | EUR | % EUR | USD | % USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today | +0.00 € | -1.17 % | +0.00 $ | +0.66 % |
| 7 Days | -0.01 € | -1.56 % | +0.00 $ | +0.26 % |
| 30 Days | +0.01 € | +3.31 % | +0.02 $ | +5.22 % |
| since Jan 1 | +0.05 € | +14.43 % | +0.07 $ | +16.54 % |
| 1 Year | +0.12 € | +45.51 % | +0.15 $ | +48.20 % |
| 5 Years | +0.14 € | +56.07 % | +0.17 $ | +58.95 % |
Here you can find a quick overview of the current prices of the other precious metals. The percentage shows the daily change.
Tip: Click on a metal to go directly to its detail page.
What Is the Copper Price?
The copper price is the market value of the world's most important industrial base metal, quoted by the tonne or the kilogram. Unlike gold, silver, platinum and palladium, which trade by the troy ounce, copper is priced in US dollars per tonne on the LME and in US cents per pound on COMEX. There is no daily fix for it: copper is traded continuously on electronic futures exchanges, close to around the clock and five days a week, and what gets called the spot price is derived from the nearest contract month, changing by the second.
Economists long ago gave copper the nickname Dr Copper, on the basis that its price has a decent record as a leading indicator for the world economy. Copper goes into practically everything, from construction and cabling to motors, cars and appliances, so a rising price signals demand and expansion, while a falling one often arrives well before the official statistics concede that a downturn is under way.
Good to know: The Dr Copper tag comes from the metal's habit of turning months before the data do. Copper was already falling hard in the early months of 2008 while equity markets were still setting records. As the old line in the dealing rooms has it, copper is the only commodity with a doctorate in economics.
Trading Venues and Price Formation
Copper is priced quite differently from the precious metals: no London fix, no auction, no set reference moment in the day. The price emerges instead from continuous trading on the global futures exchanges, where miners, smelters, industrial buyers and financial investors all meet. These are the venues that count:
- ◆ LME (London Metal Exchange) — the world's reference exchange for copper. Contracts of 25 tonnes, quoted in USD per tonne. The LME settlement at 1 p.m. London time is the global benchmark for physical delivery contracts.
- ◆ COMEX (New York) — the largest copper futures market in North America. Contracts of 25,000 lb, about 11.34 tonnes, quoted in US cents per pound. This is where US participants and speculative money congregate.
- ◆ SHFE (Shanghai Futures Exchange) — the leading venue in Asia, quoted in renminbi per tonne. China gets through more than half the world's mined copper, so Shanghai increasingly sets the direction of travel.
- ◆ MCX (Multi Commodity Exchange, India) — the subcontinent's principal commodity exchange, with contracts in rupees. India is the second-largest copper consumer in Asia after China.
For converting between the units: one tonne is 1,000 kg, or 2,204.62 lb, so a COMEX price of 450 US cents per pound works out at roughly 9,921 USD per tonne. This page shows copper in euro per kilogram, which is the unit an Irish buyer or investor is most likely to be working in.
Copper Price Development at a Glance
The copper price of the past twenty-odd years has been written largely by one development: China's emergence as the workshop of the world. Copper quadrupled between 2002 and 2008 during the commodity supercycle as Chinese industry and infrastructure expanded at speed. The financial crisis then took it from over $8,900 a tonne to below $3,000 within a few months — a fall of almost 70 per cent that showed just how tightly this metal is bound to the economic cycle. The rebound was every bit as fast: by early 2011 copper had set a fresh record above $10,000 a tonne before settling into a correction that ran for years.
The current cycle began in 2020 with a sharp V-shaped recovery from the pandemic crash. From a March 2020 low near $4,600 a tonne, stimulus spending and the emerging energy transition story carried the price to new records above $11,000 by 2024. Electric cars, solar arrays, wind turbines and grid reinforcement all swallow multiples of the copper used in the technologies they replace, which is why analysts now speak of a green copper supercycle — structural demand that could outrun what existing mines are able to deliver and hold the price at a permanently higher level.
Historical Milestones
The historical price calculator for copper works off the LME settlement price, struck each trading day at 1 p.m. London time. Where the precious metals take their reference from the LBMA, copper takes it from the London Metal Exchange. The quote is in US dollars per tonne, not per troy ounce, and we convert it to euro alongside so that buyers and investors here can look the historical price up in the currency they actually pay in.
A handful of dates repay looking up. July 2008 brought the then record of $8,940 a tonne, immediately before the financial crisis took it to $2,825 by December of the same year. February 2011 set the high of the China-driven supercycle at $10,148. March 2020 saw copper fall to $4,617 in the pandemic panic, only to more than double inside a year. And in May 2024 it passed $11,000 a tonne for the first time, driven by the energy transition and a squeeze on COMEX.
For industrial buyers the historical series is a working tool rather than a curiosity. Copper is a substantial slice of material cost in cabling, plant engineering, construction and electrical contracting, so past prices are what procurement strategies get judged against, what price escalation clauses in supply contracts are checked against, and where seasonal patterns show themselves. The euro-versus-dollar comparison matters particularly for a business trading out of Ireland: copper is bought and sold internationally in dollars while the accounts are kept in euro, and a soft euro can add several per cent to material costs even when the dollar price has not moved at all. Anyone hedging or writing fixed-price contracts needs both series in front of them.
Copper Price by Weight and Units
Copper is measured on an entirely different scale from the precious metals. Gold, silver, platinum and palladium trade by the troy ounce at 31.1035 g; copper trades by the metric tonne of 1,000 kg. The quantities explain why: a single offshore wind turbine takes around 8 tonnes of copper and an electric car about 80 kilograms, and pricing that sort of volume by the ounce would be absurd.
The trading and weight units that matter in the copper market are these:
- ◆ LME Lot (25 tonnes) — the contract size on the London Metal Exchange: 25 metric tonnes of copper cathode. At 9,500 USD a tonne that comes to 237,500 USD a contract.
- ◆ COMEX Lot (25,000 lbs / approx. 11.34 t) — the North American contract, quoted in US cents per pound. One pound is 453.592 grams.
- ◆ Metric Tonne (1,000 kg) — the reference unit for output, consumption and warehouse stocks. World production of refined copper runs to roughly 22 million tonnes a year.
- ◆ Kilogram (kg) — the unit European trade and this site use for end-user prices. A kilogram of copper currently costs somewhere around 8 to 10 EUR.
- ◆ Pound (lb) — the US unit. 1 lb = 453.592 g. To convert: USD per tonne = US cents per lb × 22.0462.
Trading Forms and Purity Grades
What actually changes hands on the futures markets is the copper cathode, a flat plate of 100 to 125 kg produced by electrolytic refining. The LME will take delivery only of Grade A cathode, meaning a minimum 99.99 per cent copper, registered under BS EN 1978:1998 (Cu-CATH-1). The standard exists so that the metal can go straight into cable and electronics manufacture without further treatment.
Other forms serve other stages of the chain. Wirebars feed cable production; copper concentrate, at 25 to 35 per cent copper, travels from the mines to the smelters and only becomes cathode there; and copper scrap now covers something like 35 per cent of European demand, traded in grades running from clean "Millberry" wire above 99 per cent down to heavily contaminated mixed copper.
Key Drivers of the Copper Price
Copper is widely regarded as the most reliable economic barometer among commodities -- earning it the nickname "Dr. Copper." Its price is driven by a complex interplay of global economic trends, Chinese industrial policy, and geological supply constraints.
China and the Global Economy
China consumes over 55% of the world's copper production. Any shift in Chinese construction, infrastructure, or industrial policy has an immediate impact on the global copper price. The Caixin Manufacturing PMI and Chinese real estate data are among the most closely watched indicators in the copper market.
Beyond China, copper is highly sensitive to global growth forecasts: when the IMF raises its growth outlook, copper often rallies on the same day. When the outlook is lowered, the price follows suit. This correlation has earned copper the title of the most reliable macroeconomic sentiment indicator.
Energy Transition and Electromobility
The decarbonization of the global economy is the most important structural demand driver for copper in the 21st century. A battery electric vehicle requires approximately 80 kg of copper -- roughly four times as much as a comparable internal combustion engine vehicle.
- ◆ Electric vehicles: 60-80 kg of copper per vehicle -- battery wiring, motors, charging cables, inverters
- ◆ Wind turbines: 3-5 tonnes of copper per MW of installed capacity, significantly more for offshore installations
- ◆ Solar installations: Approximately 5 tonnes of copper per MW -- cabling, inverters, transformers
- ◆ Power grids: Expanding transmission networks for renewable energy requires millions of tonnes of copper cabling
IEA forecast: The International Energy Agency estimates that copper demand from the energy transition alone will increase by an additional 5-7 million tonnes per year by 2040 -- representing a rise of over 25% compared to current consumption levels.
Mine Production and Supply Bottlenecks
Annual mine production stands at approximately 22 million tonnes. The largest copper-producing nations:
Peak Copper? Average ore grades in copper mines have been declining for decades: from over 2% in the 1990s to often below 0.5% today. New deposits are located in hard-to-reach regions or deep underground. From exploration discovery to production typically takes 15-20 years -- new supply can barely keep pace with rising demand.
US Dollar and Interest Rate Policy
Copper is traded internationally in US dollars. A strong dollar makes copper more expensive for buyers in other currency zones and suppresses demand -- the copper price typically falls during periods of dollar strength. Fed interest rate decisions have a dual effect: higher rates strengthen the dollar (depressing prices) while simultaneously slowing construction activity and capital investment (dampening demand).
For European investors, the copper price in euros is derived from the USD price divided by the EUR/USD exchange rate. During periods of euro weakness, the EUR copper price can rise even when the dollar price remains flat.
Exchange Inventories as a Leading Indicator
LME warehouse stocks are considered the most important short-term indicator in the copper market. When registered inventories in LME warehouses decline, it signals a tight physical supply situation and supports the price. Conversely, rising inventories put downward pressure on prices.
Additionally, inventories at the SHFE (Shanghai Futures Exchange) and COMEX warehouses are closely monitored. The combined inventories across all three exchanges have recently been at historically low levels -- a signal that many analysts interpret as a precursor to structural supply shortages.
Copper Performance and Seasonality
Performance Table
The performance table for copper is a different animal from the precious metals. Copper is an industrial base metal, quoted by the kilogram or the tonne, and it moves considerably more from one day to the next: 1 to 3 per cent in a session is ordinary business, and 4 per cent or more is normal on a day with a macroeconomic surprise. That makes the short columns far more informative here than in gold, where plenty of days barely register at all. The reason lies in copper's link to the cycle: as a leading indicator it responds directly to purchasing managers' indices, industrial production and housing starts, data series that reach gold or platinum only at second hand, if they reach them at all.
The euro against dollar comparison is secondary in copper, because the underlying volatility dwarfs the currency effect over most windows. A 2.5 per cent fall in a day leaves a EUR/USD difference of a tenth to a third of a point looking trivial. Where gold's annual return can be shifted by up to ten points by the exchange rate alone, in copper the physical balance on the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange dominates the outcome every time.
The five-year figure is where the bigger story sits: electrification and the rebuilding of the grids. An electric car uses around 80 kilograms of copper, roughly four times what a petrol equivalent needs, and wind farms, solar arrays and transmission upgrades all swallow it in quantity, which is why the International Energy Agency expects demand to double by 2040. A strong five-year column suggests the market is pricing that supercycle in. A weak one, well below the long-run average of about 5 to 7 per cent a year, usually means a cyclical downturn is temporarily obscuring the structural case.
Seasonality (20 Years)
Copper's seasonal pattern is driven by construction and infrastructure and by the buying habits of its largest consumer. The first quarter is historically strong: once the Lunar New Year is out of the way, a wave of demand builds from February and March as builders, cable makers and manufacturers refill their stores. This restocking coincides with the start of the building season in the northern hemisphere, when wiring, piping and electrical work are at their most copper-hungry, and the two together make January to April among the best months of the copper year.
The summer months from June to August are usually the weak stretch. Large construction projects pause through the hottest part of the year in the temperate north, and the Indian monsoon, in the second-largest consuming market in Asia, curtails building and transport from June to September as flooding closes sites and disrupts supply chains. Volumes on the LME fall away over the European holidays, which leaves pricing more exposed to individual large trades, and stocks in Shanghai warehouses tend to rise at the same time: a fair sign that industrial off-take is slowing.
The final quarter brings a recovery. Chinese state and private developers spend what is left of their infrastructure budgets and close out projects before winter, ordering cable and pipe for grid work in quantity through the autumn. Pre-winter stockpiling plays its part as well, since transport in the north of China becomes awkward from December onwards, so large consumers cover themselves in October and November. Governments also tend to announce stimulus and infrastructure programmes towards the year end, and the market prices the copper content in immediately. Copper is the one metal where the weather exerts a direct and measurable pull on the seasonal price.
Performance Calendar (Heatmap)
Copper's calendar sits between gold's moderate swings and palladium's extremes, yet it moves to a rhythm of its own. One to two per cent a day is normal, and a surprise in the macro data, a weak Chinese purchasing managers' index or an abrupt turn from the Fed, can stretch that to four or five per cent. The grid therefore alternates between stretches of muted colour and sudden bursts that can nearly always be pinned to a single release. Where gold answers to geopolitics, copper answers to the business cycle.
The most revealing pattern concerns the Asian end of the LME session. Copper trades on the London Metal Exchange from 1 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the early hours belong to Asian dealers. When Beijing publishes at ten in the morning local time, which is two in the morning Irish time, copper can have moved a long way before anyone here has switched on a screen. Red runs usually follow disappointing PMIs, weak Chinese property figures or a build-up in LME warehouse stocks, and the property sector alone accounts for roughly a fifth of world copper demand. Green runs tend to follow stimulus from Beijing, supply trouble in Chile or the Congo, or the announcement of a new infrastructure programme.
For anyone holding copper, the calendar is a live read on supply and demand. Weeks of green point to physical tightness or expansionary policy, while long red sections usually go hand in hand with rising LME stocks and a cooling economy. Because the exchange keeps such long hours, price formation spreads across the Asian open, the European core session and the ring close at 5 p.m., which sets the official daily figure the grid is built on. Follow it for a few months and the coupling between global sentiment and the copper price becomes obvious, along with the moments when the market is calling a turn in the cycle — the reason copper still answers to the nickname Dr Copper.
Investing in Copper
Copper is the one base metal nobody sensibly buys in physical form. The value per kilogram is simply too low to justify the space it takes up, and physical copper would attract the standard 23% rate of VAT into the bargain. Irish investors who want exposure take it through listed instruments instead, where any gain falls under the ordinary flat rate of capital gains tax rather than any special commodity regime.
Copper ETCs and ETFs
Exchange-traded commodity products are the straightforward route in, and most Irish brokers carry a reasonable selection of them:
- ◆ WisdomTree Copper -- Among the most liquid copper ETCs on European exchanges, tracking the Bloomberg Copper Subindex
- ◆ Global X Copper Miners ETF -- Broadly diversified ETF covering copper mining stocks worldwide
- ◆ iShares Copper and Metals Mining ETF -- Combination of pure copper producers and diversified mining conglomerates
Watch out for roll costs: Copper ETCs sit on futures contracts that have to be rolled forward as they expire. Where the market is in contango -- the forward price above the spot price -- each roll costs a little, and over a long holding period that drag can quietly outweigh the move in the metal itself. Worth checking before you treat one of these as a buy-and-forget position, particularly since holding for longer earns you nothing in Irish tax terms.
Copper Mining Stocks
Shares in the producers give you geared exposure to the metal: because mining costs are largely fixed, a modest rise in the copper price lands disproportionately on the margin. The same works in reverse on the way down.
- ◆ Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) -- Largest publicly traded copper producer, operates the Grasberg mine (Indonesia)
- ◆ Southern Copper (SCCO) -- Mines in Peru and Mexico, one of the lowest-cost producers globally
- ◆ Ivanhoe Mines (IVN) -- Operates Kamoa-Kakula in the DR Congo, the largest new copper discovery in decades
- ◆ BHP Group / Rio Tinto -- Diversified mining giants with significant copper divisions
Copper Futures
Standardised copper futures change hands on the LME in London and on COMEX in New York. One LME lot is 25 tonnes; a COMEX lot is 25,000 pounds, roughly 11.3 tonnes. These are instruments for industrial hedgers and professional desks rather than private savers -- the margin calls and the scale of the potential loss put them well beyond most personal budgets.