China Copper Import Premium Rises to 12-Year High
nashnova research
The Yangshan copper premium rose to $158 per tonne on Thursday — its highest since February 2014 — as global copper stocks pile up in the U.S., squeezing physical supply into China.
What is the Yangshan premium, and why does it matter now?
The Yangshan copper premium is the surcharge Chinese importers pay on top of the London Metal Exchange (LME) copper price — a direct gauge of how urgently China needs physical copper.
On Thursday it hit $158 per tonne, up 6.8% from the prior day's $148, which was itself the highest reading since October 2022.
This means → the premium is accelerating, not just ticking higher — the scramble for copper is intensifying day by day.
Where has all the copper gone?
Shanghai Futures Exchange copper inventory sits at roughly 73,962 tonnes. Comex inventory in the U.S. is about ten times that.
Of the LME's 272,950 tonnes of total copper stock, nearly two-thirds is stored in American warehouses.
In plain terms = the world's copper is migrating to the U.S. — traders are front-running an expected American import tariff by stockpiling metal stateside.
What does this U.S. concentration mean for China?
With copper resources heavily concentrated in the U.S., physical supply outside America — especially into China — is being squeezed.
This reflects a structural imbalance: global copper hasn't shrunk — its geographic distribution has shifted.
Whether the Yangshan premium can retreat depends on whether that supply pattern changes — until it does, this premium is the key barometer of stress in China's copper market.
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