Jul 22, 2026
LME lead stocks sit at a 19-year peak while COMEX gold quietly drains to a 6-month floor, the physical board splitting hard between the metals piling up and the ones thinning out.
LME lead stocks hit 449,750 mt, the 100th percentile of a 19-year record, after a 48.9% build over 30 days. The daily move is a flat -0.4%, so the level is the story, not the speed; the metal already arrived, and the tape has gone quiet on top of an extreme.
COMEX copper tells the same accumulation story on a shorter clock, up 7.2% over 30 days to a 6-mo high, while COMEX silver's plumbing tightens the other way: deliverable share at a 6-mo high of 29.2% and coverage up 14.6% over 30 days to 18.3%. Base metals stacking, silver's registered pool doing the opposite.
Gold is where level and velocity disagree most cleanly. Total COMEX gold sits at a 6-mo low of 27.07M oz with the daily move flat, gold coverage has slid 12.8% over 30 days to the 11th percentile of its 6-mo range, yet Tokyo retail gold ran +2.4% on the day to the 99th percentile of a 38-year record.
The data shows two markets under one roof: lead and copper inventories at or near records with calm daily tapes, and gold's deliverable cushion draining while retail pricing pins the top of a 38-year series.
LME lead stocks reached 449,750 mt, the highest in 19 years of records, after a 48.9% jump over the past month. The daily change is basically flat at -0.4%, so the build has stalled at an extreme level.
The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve holds 311.4M bbl, the lowest since March 1983, down 8.5% over 30 days. A thinner emergency reserve leaves less physical buffer against supply disruptions.
COMEX copper stocks rose to 700,953 short tons, a 6-month high, up 7.2% over the month. The daily gain is a modest 0.3%, so metal keeps trickling in.
The share of COMEX silver marked deliverable hit 29.2%, a 6-month high, up 8.9% over 30 days. A larger deliverable slice means more of the pile is available to settle contracts.
COMEX silver coverage climbed to 18.3%, a 6-month high, up 14.6% over the month. Higher coverage means more physical metal backing each open claim.
COMEX total gold stocks sit at 27.07M oz, a 6-month low, down 3.3% over 30 days. The daily reading is flat, so the drain has been gradual rather than abrupt.
Tokyo retail gold priced at Tanaka reached 23,816 yen per gram, the 99th percentile of a 38-year record, up 2.4% on the day. Local pricing is pinned near the top of its history.
COMEX gold coverage fell to 38.5%, the 11th percentile of its 6-month range, down 12.8% over the month. Less physical metal is standing behind each open contract than earlier this year.
Sources: CME Group COMEX warehouse reports, LME warehouse data, EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report, ETF issuer filings, and venue price quotes. Every figure is computed straight from the stored source data; percentiles rank today's level against the series' full record.