It's not just silver (SI=F) and gold (GC=F) surging to record highs — copper is also ripping to a record as the metals complex continues to be the defining trade of 2026. Read more: Copper prices are soaring. "We see speculative positioning as overdone and unrelated to the realities in the market," wrote StoneX senior metals demand analyst Natalie Scott-Gray. 'The linchpin of electrification, digitalization, and security'In late June, copper was trading on the London Metals Exchange below $10,000 per ton. When the administration announced later in the month that the proposed tariffs would apply only to semi-finished copper products and copper-intensive derivatives — not to raw or refined copper — prices cooled, but not for long.