Tariff risk unleashes record copper shipments bound for US ports

The US is about to be flooded with a massive wave of copper as a worldwide dash to front-run potential tariffs by US President Donald Trump comes to a head, Report informs via Bloomberg.

Between 100,000 and 150,000 metric tons of refined copper is expected to arrive in the US in the coming weeks, according to four people surveyed by Bloomberg with direct knowledge of some of the shipments. If the full volume arrives within the same month, it would surpass the all-time record of 136,951 tons set in January 2022.

Commodities traders including Trafigura Group, Glencore Plc and Gunvor Group are redirecting large volumes of metal earmarked for Asia to the US. The quantity is so big that traders are booking additional warehousing space in New Orleans and Baltimore to accommodate the shipments, some of the people said. The three firms declined to comment.

The surge of foreign copper into the US has widespread ramifications as it drains supplies in other markets including China, the top consuming nation. Copper prices in the US are at levels well above other overseas markets, giving American manufacturers a taste of the kind of cost inflation and supply-chain disruptions that may be triggered by a full-blown trade war.

Trump late last month ordered the US Commerce Department to conduct a probe into possible copper tariffs on national security grounds, in a move that sent copper futures in New York surging above other global price benchmarks.