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
Every point on this curve is a recorded Copper quote from the window you have chosen. Run the pointer along the line and the tooltip reveals the exact level reached on that particular trading day.
The buttons above switch the window, running from Today through to Max. Drag across a stretch of the curve to magnify it. Beneath the chart, three summary cards report the peak, the trough and the net move.
Tip: Choose Today and the series resolves down to a single reading per minute.
(24/08/26)
(21/08/26)
(23/08/26)
(23/08/26)
(06/08/26)
Name a date and the lookup returns what Copper was worth on it: the opening and closing levels, the extremes reached in between, and the equivalent figures per gram and per kilogram.
Tip: Pick your date. Should London have been shut that day, the lookup falls back to the closest session it holds.
| 21/08/2026 | GBP | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Open | 0.33 £ | 0.45 $ |
| High | 0.33 £ | 0.46 $ |
| Low | 0.33 £ | 0.45 $ |
| Close | 0.33 £ | 0.46 $ |
Source: Spot
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Enjoying what you see and read?
We pour our heart into keeping preciousmetalprices.com fast, clean and free — no paywalls, no clutter, just reliable facts and live prices. If it helps you, the nicest way to say thank you is to pass it on. Every share helps a fellow investor discover us and keeps the project going. 💛
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 | GBP | % GBP | 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 measures the most heavily used industrial base metal there is, by the kilogram or by the tonne. Gold, silver, platinum and palladium trade by the troy ounce; copper does not. It is quoted in US dollars per tonne on the London Metal Exchange and in US cents per pound on COMEX. There is no daily fix for copper. It trades continuously on electronic futures markets, nearly round the clock five days a week, and what is loosely called the spot price is really the front-month contract, moving second by second.
Economists have long called it Dr Copper, on the grounds that the price anticipates the world economy more reliably than most professional forecasters. Copper is unavoidable in construction, in electrical work, in vehicle manufacture and now in grid infrastructure, so a rising price signals expanding demand and a falling one frequently arrives before the downturn does. No other commodity registers the pulse of global activity quite so directly.
Good to know: The Dr Copper nickname rests on a repeated observation: the price turns months before the official statistics do. Copper was already falling hard through early 2008 whilst equity markets were still setting records. The standing joke in the trade is that the metal holds a doctorate in economics and never files a forecast.
Where the Price Is Made
Copper price formation looks nothing like that of the precious metals. There is no London fix, no auction, no appointed hour. The price emerges instead from continuous futures dealing in which miners, smelters, industrial buyers and financial investors all meet. The main venues:
- ◆ LME (London Metal Exchange) — The world reference exchange for copper and a London institution since 1877. Lots run to 25 tonnes and are priced in dollars per tonne, with the settlement figure struck at 1:00 pm acting as the world benchmark for physical delivery.
- ◆ COMEX (New York) — North America's largest copper futures market. Contracts of 25,000 lbs, about 11.34 tonnes, quoted in US cents per pound. The venue where speculative positioning concentrates.
- ◆ SHFE (Shanghai Futures Exchange) — Asia's principal venue, priced in renminbi per tonne. China consumes more than half the world's mined copper, so Shanghai increasingly leads rather than follows.
- ◆ MCX (Multi Commodity Exchange, India) — The subcontinent's leading commodity exchange, with contracts in rupees. India ranks second to China among Asian copper consumers.
For converting between the units: 1 tonne = 1,000 kg = 2,204.62 lbs. A COMEX quote of 450 US cents per pound therefore works out at roughly 9,921 dollars per tonne. On this page we present copper in pounds sterling per kilogram, which is the form British merchants and fabricators actually quote in, and it is worth noting that copper is an industrial commodity rather than investment metal, so the standard 20% rate of VAT applies to it without exception.
Copper Price Development at a Glance
One force has shaped the copper price above all others: China's emergence as the workshop of the world. Copper quadrupled between 2002 and 2008 during the commodity supercycle, carried along by Chinese industrialisation and construction. The banking crisis of 2008 then knocked it from above $8,900 a tonne to under $3,000 within a handful of months, a fall of nearly 70 per cent that showed just how tightly this metal is bound to the business cycle. Recovery came every bit as fast: by early 2011 copper had set a fresh record above $10,000 a tonne before sliding into a correction that lasted years.
The latest cycle opened in 2020 with a sharp V off the pandemic low. From roughly $4,600 a tonne in March 2020, stimulus spending and the gathering energy transition narrative carried the quote to new highs above $11,000 by 2024. Electric cars, solar arrays, wind turbines and grid reinforcement each swallow several times the copper of the technologies they displace. Analysts now speak of a "Green Copper Supercycle": demand rising structurally, potentially beyond what the existing mine base can deliver, holding the price at a permanently higher floor.
Historical Milestones
The historical price calculator for copper is based on the LME Settlement Price, which is determined each trading day at 1:00 PM London time (2:00 PM CET). Unlike precious metals, whose reference prices are fixed by the LBMA, for copper the London Metal Exchange serves as the authoritative benchmark. The LME price is quoted in USD per tonne — not per troy ounce as with gold or silver. On this site, we additionally convert this reference price into euros, allowing European buyers and investors to look up the historical copper price directly in their home currency.
Particularly instructive dates for historical lookup include: July 2008, when copper reached its then all-time high of $8,940/tonne just before the financial crisis, followed by a crash to $2,825/tonne in December of the same year. The February 2011 high of $10,148/tonne marked the peak of the China-driven supercycle. In March 2020, copper fell to $4,617/tonne due to the pandemic, only to more than double within a year. And in May 2024, copper broke through the $11,000/tonne mark for the first time, driven by the global energy transition and speculative shortages on the COMEX market.
For industrial buyers, the historical copper price comparison is an indispensable tool for procurement cost analysis. Copper accounts for a significant share of material costs in many industries — from cable production to plant engineering. By looking up past prices, procurement strategies can be evaluated, price escalation clauses in supply contracts can be verified, and seasonal patterns can be identified. The comparison between EUR and USD prices is particularly relevant, since copper is traded internationally in dollars while costs for European companies are incurred in euros: a weak euro can increase material costs by several percent even if the dollar price remains stable.
Copper Price by Weight and Units
Copper is measured on an entirely different scale from the precious metals. Gold, silver, platinum and palladium trade in troy ounces of 31.1035 g; copper trades by the tonne. The reason is simply the quantities involved — a single offshore wind turbine consumes something like 8 tonnes of the metal and an electric car around 80 kg — at which point pricing by the ounce would be absurd.
The units you will encounter in the copper market:
- ◆ LME lot (25 tonnes) — The London Metal Exchange contract, being 25 tonnes of copper cathode. At 9,500 dollars a tonne that is 237,500 dollars of metal per contract.
- ◆ COMEX lot (25,000 lbs, about 11.34 t) — The North American contract, quoted in US cents per pound. One pound is 453.592 grams.
- ◆ 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 — The unit British merchants quote in, and the one used on this page. A kilogram of copper currently runs to something like £7 to £9, plus VAT at 20%.
- ◆ Pound (lb) — The American trading unit, 453.592 g. To convert: USD per tonne = US cents per lb × 22.0462.
Traded Forms and Quality Grades
What actually changes hands on the futures markets is the copper cathode, a flat electrolytically refined plate of 100 to 125 kg. The LME will accept only Grade A material for delivery, meaning a minimum of 99.99% copper, registered under BS EN 1978:1998 as Cu-CATH-1. That standard exists because the cable and electronics industries take the metal straight from the warehouse into production without further refining.
Cathode is not the only traded form. Wirebars feed cable manufacture; concentrate, running at 25 to 35% copper, travels from the mine to the smelter and only becomes cathode there; and scrap now supplies something near 35% of European demand, graded from clean Millberry wire at better than 99% down to contaminated mixed grades that a merchant will price accordingly.
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 a sterling investor the copper price is simply the dollar quote divided by the GBP/USD rate, so a weak pound can lift the price in pounds even on a day when copper itself has not budged. Copper is also one commodity where London still sets the tone: the LME contract remains the global reference for physical trade.
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
Copper's performance table works on a different logic from the precious metals. This is an industrial base metal, quoted by the kilogram or the tonne, and its daily range is considerably wider than gold's. Moves of 1 to 3% in a session are simply the normal course of business, and a surprise macro release can produce 4% or more. That makes the short columns genuinely informative for copper, whereas for gold a single day often says nothing at all. The reason lies in copper's dependence on the industrial cycle: as a forward indicator of activity, the price responds directly to purchasing managers' indices, industrial output and housing starts, series that touch gold or platinum only at one remove.
The sterling and dollar columns are a secondary consideration for copper, since the underlying volatility overwhelms the currency effect across most windows. A 2.5% fall in a day leaves the typical 0.1 to 0.3 percentage point currency difference more or less invisible. Unlike gold, where the pound can shift an annual return by several points, copper is governed throughout by the physical balance struck on the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
The 5-year figure is where the larger story shows up, namely the electrification and grid renewal argument. Copper is unavoidable in electric vehicles, which take roughly 80 kg apiece against about a quarter of that for a petrol car, and equally so in wind turbines, solar farms and transmission networks. The International Energy Agency expects demand to double by 2040, a structural tailwind that ought to be visible in the multi-year columns. A strong 5-year reading suggests the market is pricing that story; a reading well under the long-run average of around 5 to 7% a year suggests a cyclical downturn is temporarily obscuring it.
Seasonality (20 Years)
Copper's seasonal shape is set by construction and infrastructure cycles and by the buying habits of its dominant consumer, China. The first quarter has historically been firm. Once the Lunar New Year holiday ends, a substantial wave of demand arrives from February and March as builders, cable makers and manufacturers refill their stockrooms. This restocking coincides with the opening of the northern hemisphere building season, when wiring, plumbing and electrical fit-out consume copper intensively. Between them the two effects make January to April statistically among the better months of the copper year.
June to August normally marks the flat spell. Across temperate latitudes many large sites slow through high summer, taking physical demand with them. The Indian monsoon, in Asia's second-largest copper market, curtails building and haulage from June to September as flooding closes sites and disrupts supply lines. LME volumes thin out noticeably over the European holidays, leaving price formation more exposed to individual large trades, and warehouse stocks in the Shanghai system tend to build during this stretch, a reliable signal of slack industrial offtake.
The final quarter recovers for several reasons at once. Chinese state and private developers use the closing months to spend down infrastructure budgets and finish projects before winter, ordering cable and tube for grid work in volume through the autumn. Pre-winter stockpiling contributes as well, since transport across northern China becomes awkward from December and large consumers secure supply in October and November. Governments also tend to announce fresh stimulus and infrastructure programmes towards year end, and the market prices in the copper content immediately. Weather-driven building cycles and the monsoon between them make copper the one metal on this site where climate exerts a direct, measurable seasonal pull on the price.
Performance Calendar (Heatmap)
Copper's performance calendar sits between gold's restraint and palladium's chaos, but it moves to its own rhythm. Ordinary days run ±1 to 2%; a surprise Chinese purchasing managers' index or an unexpected turn from the Federal Reserve can stretch that to 4 to 5%. The grid alternates between long passages of muted colour and sudden bursts of intensity, and nearly every burst can be pinned to a specific macroeconomic release. Gold takes its cue from geopolitics; copper takes its from the business cycle.
The Asian session leaves the clearest fingerprint. LME dealing runs from 1:00 am to 7:00 pm London time, and those early hours belong largely to Chinese participants. When Beijing publishes at 10:00 am local, which is 2:00 am here, copper has often finished moving before British traders have switched a screen on. Red runs generally follow disappointing PMIs, weak Chinese property figures or an unwelcome build in LME warehouse stocks; the property sector alone underpins around a fifth of world copper demand, which is why bad news from it produces multi-day streaks. Green runs come from Beijing stimulus, supply interruptions such as Chilean mine strikes or Congolese export restrictions, and announcements of infrastructure spending.
For anyone following the metal, the calendar is a live readout of physical tightness. Weeks of green suggest either genuine scarcity or an expansionary policy backdrop, whilst sustained red usually travels with rising warehouse stocks and a cooling economy. Because LME hours are so long, price formation stretches from the Asian open, through the European core, to the Ring close at 5:00 pm London time, which sets the official daily figure. Watch the grid over a few months and the tight coupling between global sentiment and this one price becomes obvious. It is precisely why the metal has earned the nickname "Dr Copper".
Investing in Copper
Unlike gold and silver, physical copper is impractical as a direct investment -- the low price per kilogram and the sheer volume make storage uneconomical. Instead, investors have access to a range of financial instruments.
Copper ETCs and ETFs
Exchange-traded commodity products offer the simplest access to the copper price. The most important products for European investors:
- ◆ WisdomTree Copper (A0KRJU) -- One of the most liquid copper ETCs, 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 are based on futures contracts that must be rolled regularly. In a contango market structure (futures price higher than spot price), this creates roll losses that can erode returns over the long term.
Copper Mining Stocks
Mining stocks provide leveraged exposure to the copper price, as rising prices disproportionately increase profit margins.
- ◆ 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
Standardized copper futures are traded on the LME (London) and COMEX (New York) exchanges. An LME contract covers 25 tonnes, while a COMEX contract covers 25,000 pounds (~11.3 tonnes). These instruments are primarily designed for institutional participants and professional traders -- the margin requirements and loss potential typically exceed private investor budgets.