The Vault Report · LME Desk
LME Warehouse Ledger
Daily warehouse inventory across Copper, Aluminum, Zinc, Lead, Nickel, and Tin — on-warrant (deliverable) stocks, with 7-day and 30-day change.
Data as of
July 28, 2026
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Copper
On-Warrant
268.8Kmt
7-Day
-5.4%
30-Day
-19.3%
Draining faster than usual
Aluminum
On-Warrant
269.3Kmt
7-Day
-2.7%
30-Day
-11.8%
Zinc
On-Warrant
102.5Kmt
7-Day
-4.8%
30-Day
-15.0%
Lead
On-Warrant
447.8Kmt
7-Day
-0.35%
30-Day
+50.8%
Building faster than usual
Nickel
On-Warrant
267.5Kmt
7-Day
-1.1%
30-Day
-2.5%
Tin
On-Warrant
6.4Kmt
7-Day
-12.8%
30-Day
-25.1%
Draining faster than usual
Common questions
- What is on-warrant stock on the LME?
- On-warrant stock is metal in LME-approved warehouses that is backed by a live warrant and available to settle contracts. It is the most liquid, immediately deliverable form of LME inventory and the figure most watched for squeeze risk.
- What is a cancelled warrant?
- A cancelled warrant is metal that an owner has earmarked for physical withdrawal from the warehouse. It is still on site but on its way out, so a rising share of cancelled warrants points to metal leaving the deliverable pool.
- What does falling LME inventory signal?
- Steadily falling on-warrant stock, especially alongside rising cancelled warrants and firmer prices, points to tightening physical availability. It tends to coincide with delivery pressure rather than predicting a price move on its own.
- What do contango and backwardation mean on the LME?
- Contango means metal for delivery in three months costs more than metal for delivery today, the normal state, because storing and financing metal has a cost. Backwardation is the reverse: cash metal costs more than the 3-month contract, which usually signals near-term tightness in physical supply.
What you're looking at
- On-warrant inventory
- LME-warranted metal in approved warehouses — the deliverable headline.
- 7-day / 30-day change
- Percent change in on-warrant stocks vs the closest matching row that many days back.
- Sparkline
- ~30-day on-warrant trend, updated daily.
Data source
Official LME daily warehouse reports, sourced via Westmetall and refreshed daily.