Gotrade News - The commodities complex is flexing across metals and energy, with copper trading near record highs, China's gold imports topping 1,000 tons in 2026, and crude oil holding sharp year over year gains even as it eases from recent peaks.
The strength spans very different drivers, from a tariff-fueled copper squeeze to record Chinese bullion buying, and it is now feeding into US Treasury yields in ways traders have not seen in decades.
Key Takeaways
Copper hit a record near $14,533 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, and COMEX front-month copper is up about 47% over the past year.
China's gold imports topped 1,000 tons in 2026 through August, surpassing the total for all of 2025.
Oil has firmed over the past month and is up more than 40% year over year, while its correlation to US bond yields hit a 35-year high.
Copper Nears Record on Tariff Fears and Supply Squeeze
Copper has led the metals rally. According to Yahoo Finance, the metal reached an all-time high of $14,533 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, surpassing its previous January record, before settling around $14,513.
The move followed weeks of anticipation that the US will expand tariffs to refined-metal imports, with the Department of Commerce running roughly two months overdue on its report to the White House.
Supply is the second leg of the story. Yahoo Finance reported that the world's ageing fleet of big mines is struggling to keep pace with demand from data centers, renewable energy, and power grids, while Chile's copper shipments fell to their lowest in more than a year despite surging prices.
On the COMEX, front-month copper traded around $6.75 a pound on Tuesday, a sixth straight session of gains and just shy of its August record of $6.83, per Trading Economics, leaving the contract up roughly 47% over the past year.
The tightness keeps miners in focus. Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), one of the largest US-listed copper producers, is among the major miners with significant exposure to copper prices.
China's Gold Imports Top 1,000 Tons
Bullion demand out of China has been just as striking. As reported by ChainCatcher, citing Chinese customs data, the country's gold imports exceeded 1,000 tons in 2026 through August, already surpassing the total for all of 2025 and marking the strongest run in data comparable since 2017.
The drivers are a mix of price and currency. ChainCatcher reported that falling international gold prices and a strengthening yuan encouraged buyers. Goldman Futures analyst Wu Zijie attributed the surge to strong investment demand that has kept onshore prices at a premium to global benchmarks, enticing imports.
Oil Firms on the Month but Eases in Recent Sessions
Energy rounds out the picture, though with more nuance. Per Trading Economics, WTI crude traded near $90.33 a barrel on September 22, up about 6% over the past month and roughly 42% year over year, even as it slipped below $92 on Tuesday for a fifth straight session of losses, its lowest in over two weeks.
The recent pullback reflects optimism over a diplomatic resolution to the US-Iran conflict, which has eased fears of Middle East supply disruptions.
Commodity | Latest reading | Trend |
|---|
Copper (LME 3-month) | Record near $14,533/ton | Tariff and supply squeeze |
Copper (COMEX front-month) | About $6.75/lb | Up about 47% year over year |
China gold imports (2026 YTD) | Over 1,000 tons through August | Above all of 2025 |
WTI crude | About $90.33/barrel | Up about 42% year over year |
Oil's Link to Treasury Yields Hits 35-Year High
The most unusual signal is in the bond market. According to Cboe Global Markets, writing on Seeking Alpha, the correlation between oil and the US 10-year Treasury yield jumped to a 35-year high of about 65%, a shift that suggests future yield moves may increasingly track oil and geopolitics rather than Federal Reserve policy alone.
The same analysis noted that the MOVE index of interest-rate volatility eased 1.5 basis points to 80 basis points after the Fed's latest 25 basis point rate hike, with commodity volatility posting the steepest declines across asset classes.
That link matters because yields have already been climbing, as covered in US Treasury Yields Hit Highest Since 2007 and the latest Weekly Market Outlook covering the Fed hikes and yields above 5%.
If firm commodity prices keep feeding into inflation expectations, they could reinforce the upward pressure on rates that has rattled bonds and rate-sensitive equities.
For now, the commodity complex is sending a consistent message: physical demand for metals and energy remains robust, and those price signals are spilling into rates.
Sources
