Copper Dashboard: Physical tightness persists with 90% of visible inventories in the US, ongoing supply disruptions, but sentiment weakens

Copper prices have remained range-bound for the past three months, trading between ~$14,000-14,800/t ($6.35-6.70/lb). The ongoing threat of US tariffs lingers, but market sentiment has tilted towards 'cautious uncertainty' as highlighted by Greg's LME week feedback. Meanwhile, the faltering AI trade and fears around deceleration of AI capex, have not been reflected in global/US PMI readings which remain strong at 52.6/54.9. The US inventory pull has continued since our last update, leading to physical tightness in the RoW, compounded by weak mine production (particularly from Chile), and evident through the spike in China cathode premia. Nevertheless, the cautious tone has seen LME speculative positioning fall materially, and forward pricing below spot through next year. Key takeaways: (1) Global visible copper inventories have ticked higher to 1.1Mt from 975kt in mid-August, as US located stocks continue to move higher; ~90% of the inventory is now within the US. SHFE + China bonded i