Data through: September 2026 · updated Oct 11 · Updates: Monthly, in the first week after the month ends (World Bank Pink Sheet)
MThe three bars show the last 3 months for this indicator, oldest left to newest right. Bar height reflects each reading relative to the other two — the tallest is the highest of the three, the shortest the lowest.
Historical context: Currently in the 100th percentile historically — near historically high (favorable) levels.
What this means right now: Copper is above $10,000 a ton — boom pricing, first reached in May 2021. None of these months has come with a US recession, and in all but one the OECD's G7 leading indicator stood above its trend.
Copper Price (Global) · Monthly · 1992–2026
NBER recessions
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Monthly values
Copper Price (Global) — the last 12 months
Every month's reading, with the band the heatmap gives it. The chart above shows the same series in full.
Month
Value
Band
Sep 2026
$14,474
Very strong reading
Aug 2026
$14,326
Very strong reading
Jul 2026
$13,543
Very strong reading
Jun 2026
$13,552
Very strong reading
May 2026
$13,512
Very strong reading
Apr 2026
$12,891
Very strong reading
Month-end readings of the same series the chart shows, from copper_price. Values are the current record, not point-in-time: a month that has since been revised shows its revised value.
What is the Copper Price?
The global copper price is the monthly average LME price (the IMF's through July 2026, the World Bank's since) in US dollars per metric ton. It is nicknamed "the metal with a PhD in economics." Copper goes into wiring, construction, machinery, vehicles and the electrical grid. New mines take years to open, so supply is slow to adjust and the price moves with demand.
Copper fell in each of the four demand shocks the site's record holds, by very different amounts. It fell 30% into October 2001 and 64% from April to December 2008. It fell 55% over the five years to January 2016, and 16% into April 2020. A fall of 30% or more from the past year's high has happened three times since 1992, in 1996, 1997–98 and 2008. Only the last came with a US recession.
On the way up, the price more than quadrupled from January 2003 to its 2007 high, and first passed $10,000 a ton in May 2021. The 2024–26 rise took it to records above $13,000. Electrification, grid buildout and data-center construction all use a lot of copper.
How We Color-Code the Copper Price
Our heatmap colors this indicator against historically significant thresholds:
Below $3,500
Below $3,500 — collapse pricing by modern standards: since mid-2005 only December 2008 to February 2009 sat here. Every month from 1992 to May 2005 did too
$3,500 – $5,500
$3,500 to $5,500 — weak pricing, about 1 month in 11 since 1992 (37 of 417), in five periods since 2005
$5,500 – $8,000
$5,500 to $8,000 — mid-range pricing by modern standards, neither weak nor strong: about 3 months in 10 since 1992 (126 of 417)
$8,000 – $10,000
$8,000 to $10,000 — strong pricing, about 1 month in 6 since 1992 (74 of 417)
Above $10,000
Above $10,000 — boom pricing, first reached in May 2021
Historical Extremes — What Happened Next?
When this indicator reaches extreme levels, history shows consistent patterns:
Sep 2026All-Time High
$14,474
The highest monthly average on the record, which begins in 1992.
Feb 2011Post-GFC Supercycle Peak
$9,881
The top of the 2000s commodity boom. Copper then fell 55% over five years, to January 2016.
Dec 2008GFC Demand Collapse
$3,105
Copper lost 64% in eight months, from April to December 2008. The rebound was known by mid-February 2009, three weeks before the S&P 500's March 9 low.
Jan 20162015–16 Low
$4,472
The low of the 2015–16 slide, down 55% from the 2011 peak. January's average was published on February 18, a week after the S&P 500's February 11 low.
May 2021Reopening Breakout
$10,166
Copper passed $10,000 a ton for the first time, as the economy reopened after the pandemic.
Jul 19951990s Norm
$3,076
A strong-economy price of the 1990s: $3,000 a ton was a high price then. Prices since 2004 have run about four times higher: the median month since then is $7,066, against $1,855 for 1992–2003.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is copper called "Dr. Copper"?
The joke is that copper has a PhD in economics: it goes into nearly every construction and manufacturing process, its supply is slow to adjust, and its price is a monthly reading on industrial demand. It fell in all four of the demand shocks the site's record holds, from 16% in 2020 to 64% in 2008, and each month's average is published in the first week after the month ends.
Why does the site colour high copper green and high oil red?
Oil spikes are often supply shocks that act as a tax on consumers, while copper moves more with demand, rising when the world builds more. A supply squeeze can push copper up without matching demand, which is why it is read alongside freight: on the site's data their changes over a year correlate 0.49.
How are this page's colour levels set?
Below $3,500 a ton is collapse pricing by modern standards: since mid-2005 only December 2008 to February 2009 sat there. From $3,500 to $5,500 copper is weakly priced, and from $5,500 to $8,000 it is mid-range, neither weak nor strong. From $8,000 to $10,000 it is strongly priced, and above $10,000 it is at boom prices, first reached in May 2021. Higher is coloured better, because copper's price moves with world industrial demand. The levels are set for modern prices: prices since 2004 have run about four times the 1990s level, so every month before 2004 falls in the lowest band, and the full history stays on the chart. They are fixed levels, set in July 2026 with the series' whole history in view, and they do not move as new data arrives. A price of $8,000 a ton gets the same colour in 2008 as today, so a change of colour is a change in copper's price, never in the yardstick.