Copper price steady as traders await return of China industrial demand

Bloomberg News | February 26, 2026 | 9:03 am Markets China Copper

Copper price falls on China disappointing retail and industrial data

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Copper steadied near a two-week high as investors waited for demand from industrial users in top buyer China to rebound after the Lunar New Year break.

Futures were little changed by mid-morning in London, after earlier dropping as much as 0.8% in Asian trading. That halted a two-day rally that had been aided by Chinese investors who cheered US President Donald Trump’s new 10% global tariffs, which effectively lowered the duty on goods shipped to the US from the Asian nation.

Column: Copper is pricing scarcity at a time of plenty

“Industrial metals are now lacking fresh bullish drivers,” said Aces Zhou, a trader with KS Commodities Ltd. However, many Chinese fabricators would only restart early next month, he added.

The buildup of copper inventories in China was also greater than usual during the holiday period. Stockpiles in global exchange warehouses are also rising in a sign of tepid physical demand after prices surged to a record high in late January, supported by shifts in US trade policies and mine disruptions.

Privately held copper inventories at China’s major consumption centers including Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Chongqing and Tianjin jumped to 531,700 tons as of Thursday, the highest since early 2020, research firm Shanghai Metals Market said, citing a market survey.

While manufacturers are pushing back against high prices for now, many investors remain bullish on copper’s long-term outlook, as they bet that chronic mine-supply constraints and rising usage in electric vehicles, data centers and renewable energy will push the market into major deficits.

“Copper demand is accelerating, driven by electrification, rising power consumption, the rapid build-out of AI-linked data centers and the broader energy transition,” Olivia Markham, co-manager of the BlackRock World Mining Trust, said in a note. “Operational disruptions and the multi-decade lead times required to bring new projects online continue to underpin structural deficits in key base metals.”

Copper lost 0.3% to $13,285 a ton as of 10:57 a.m. local time on the London Metal Exchange. Other base metals declined, with nickel down 1.2% to $17,870 a ton, while aluminum dropped 1.1%.