Aug 14, 2026
Copper and lead inventories are piling into their record ceilings while zinc drains and managed money keeps stacking net-long copper to a 20-year high, a board where positioning and physical stocks are pulling in opposite directions.
LME lead stocks sit at the 100th percentile of a 19-yr record, 414,375 mt, up 43.2% over 30 days. The daily move is a quiet -0.6%, so the level is pinned at an extreme while the speed has stalled; that gap between an all-record position and a flat tape is the beat worth watching.
Copper's two sides refuse to agree. Managed money pushed net-long to 79,027 contracts, the highest since Feb 2021 and up 34.4% over 30 days, even as COMEX copper stocks climbed to a 7-mo high of 733,653 short tons. Paper positioning and warehouse metal are both building at once.
The base-metal warehouses themselves diverge. Lead and COMEX copper press their ceilings while LME zinc drains to 92,550 mt, its lowest since Dec 2025 and down 18.4% on the month, sitting at the 14th percentile of a 19-yr record.
On the precious side, managed-money net gold rose 5.3% on the week to 137,662 contracts, the highest since Sep 2025, while COMEX total gold stocks drifted to a 7-mo low at 26.61M oz. SPR crude, at 298.7M bbl, remains the lowest since Jan 1983. The data shows length building against thinning physical stocks across more than one metal.
Speculative funds hold 79,027 net-long copper contracts, the most since Feb 2021 and up 34.4% over 30 days. That ranks in the 96th percentile of a 20-yr record.
LME zinc stocks fell to 92,550 mt, down 2.9% on the day and 18.4% over 30 days, the lowest since Dec 2025. That sits at the 14th percentile of a 19-yr record.
Managed-money net gold rose to 137,662 contracts, up 5.3% on the week and 18.5% over 30 days, the highest since Sep 2025.
LME lead stocks stand at 414,375 mt, the 100th percentile of a 19-yr record after a 43.2% build over 30 days. The daily move was a flat -0.6%, so the level is extreme while the pace has cooled.
COMEX copper stocks reached 733,653 short tons, a 7-mo high, up 0.3% on the day and 7.8% over 30 days.
COMEX total gold stocks were little changed on the day at 26.61M oz but down 1.8% over 30 days, a 7-mo low.
SPR crude fell to 298.7M bbl, down 2.0% on the week and 6.5% over 30 days, the lowest since Jan 1983.
COMEX copper coverage dropped to 12.0%, down 3.1% on the day and 16.3% over 30 days, sitting at the 25th percentile of its 7-mo record. Coverage measures how much registered metal backs open obligations.
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.