Copper rose to a record high on Tuesday amid concerns over a shortage of the metal outside the U.S.
The price of three-month copper futures on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose to $14,617 per metric ton, breaking the previous record set the day before. Since the start of this year, futures have risen 16%.
The most actively traded copper contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1.3% on Tuesday to 110,620 thousand yuan ($16,484) per metric ton, while during trading, prices rose to a high of 110,890 yuan per metric ton, the highest level since January 30.
Physical copper shipments continue to be redirected to the U.S., exacerbating shortages in markets outside the country, according to analysts at the Chinese brokerage firm Everbright Futures.
The flow of metal to the U.S. is driven by expectations that the country will impose tariffs on copper imports starting in 2027.
Copper inventories at Comex warehouses rose last week to a record 695,624 thousand metric tons. At the same time, an outflow of the metal is being recorded at warehouses registered with the LME, as well as with the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
The spot price of copper on the LME continues to exceed the price of the three-month contract, signaling limited supply of the metal in the short term.
Three-month zinc futures on the LME rose 0.54% to $4,005 per metric ton. Earlier, their price had climbed to a four-year high of $4,035 per metric ton.
Earlier, the Experts Club information and analytical center released a video on global copper production and leading producing countries – https://youtube.com/shorts/_h8iU50z8C0?si=a-XkgGEfeUxseQNa
A meeting involving representatives from Ukraine, the U.S., and Europe is set to take place in the near future, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said following a meeting with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, representatives of U.S. President Donald Trump.
“We agreed that Ukraine, Europe, and the U.S. will meet in the near future. I don’t know where the meeting will take place. Perhaps in Ukraine again,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Kyiv.
The president noted that the American delegation’s visit worked for Kyiv “like a Patriot” and emphasized Ukraine’s need for it.
According to him, during the meeting, the parties discussed the challenges facing Ukraine on the eve of winter and a possible winter aid package.
According to Fixygen, USDT and USDC reserves are largely invested in short-term U.S. Treasury bonds (US Treasuries) and repo transactions backed by them.
The market capitalization of USDT reached approximately $183 billion, while the amount of USDC in circulation in the second quarter totaled $73.3 billion.
Circle explicitly states that USDC reserves include short-term Treasury bonds and overnight repos backed by Treasury bonds, notably through a BlackRock fund.
As a result, the growing use of digital dollars automatically increases demand for U.S. government debt.
This is precisely why the U.S. administration views the proliferation of stablecoins not only as a fintech project but also as a way to boost international demand for the dollar and Treasury bonds.
BIS Chairman Pablo Hernández de Cos also acknowledged that stablecoins have the potential to lower the cost of U.S. government financing, although they may simultaneously increase the cost of bank financing.
bond, DOLLAR, stablecoin, U.S., USDT
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cited Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil infrastructure as one of the causes of the global energy crisis and rising energy prices, according to The New York Times.
“We are currently experiencing an energy shock due to the war in Ukraine, as Ukraine has decided to target Russian energy assets and oil refineries, which is driving up prices globally,” Bessent said.
According to The New York Times, Bessent made this statement after two days of meetings in North Carolina with finance ministers from around the world. He cited Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil infrastructure as one of the causes of the global energy crisis, which he said was primarily caused by the U.S. war with Iran.
The publication notes that Bessent’s remarks came after the U.S. invited Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to the G20 meeting, a move that drew criticism from some of Ukraine’s allies.
Bessent also defended his bilateral meeting with Siluanov, citing the need for cooperation to resolve Russia’s war against Ukraine.
At the same time, as the American publication notes, Bessent’s criticism of Ukraine’s military tactics sparked a negative reaction among Ukrainians.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/business/bessent-energy-prices-ukraine.html
According to Fixygen, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a new framework called “Regulation Crypto Assets,” specifically designed to facilitate capital raising by cryptocurrency projects.
The proposal provides for two frameworks.
Small projects will be able to raise up to $5 million over four years, while larger ones can raise up to $75 million every 12 months without going through the full standard securities offering registration process.
At the same time, issuers must disclose information to investors and will continue to be subject to laws regarding fraud and market manipulation.
The SEC is also proposing a safe harbor mechanism that, provided certain requirements are met, allows the crypto asset itself to be separated from the initial investment contract.
Comments on the draft are being accepted through October 20, 2026.
If the rules are adopted, the U.S. will, for the first time, have a separate, full-fledged capital-raising procedure specifically for crypto startups.
Stocks of Patriot interceptor missiles held by U.S. forces in Europe have plummeted following large-scale deliveries to Ukraine and particularly heavy ammunition consumption during the war with Iran, raising concerns about NATO’s ability to repel sustained ballistic missile attacks.
The Associated Press reported this on August 27, citing a U.S. military official in Europe and a NATO spokesperson, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.
According to the U.S. official, the most serious problem concerns the Patriot missiles specifically designed to intercept high-speed ballistic missiles.
He described inventory levels as “below critical” and stated that U.S. forces in Europe currently “definitely” do not have enough interceptors to repel a sustained series of ballistic missile strikes.
The official described the ability to defend against even a single ballistic strike or an errant Russian missile that has veered off course and is heading toward NATO territory as “very limited.”
A NATO spokesperson who spoke with the AP also confirmed the low level of Patriot stockpiles among U.S. and NATO forces in Europe.
However, both the Pentagon and NATO officially reject assessments of a critical shortage.
NATO’s senior military representative, U.S. Army Colonel Martin O’Donnell, told the AP that the claim that the number of Patriot missiles in Europe is “below critical levels” is not true. According to him, NATO has sufficient air defense capabilities both for its own protection and to continue assisting Ukraine.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell also dismissed reports of a shortage of U.S. ammunition as false and stated that the U.S. military has the necessary stockpiles to conduct operations.
Nevertheless, independent assessments show a significant reduction in U.S. reserves.
According to Mark Kansian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Ukraine has received more than 600 Patriot missiles from U.S. and allied stocks since the start of the full-scale war.
However, the main factor behind the sharp decline in reserves was the U.S. war with Iran.
According to CSIS estimates, approximately 65% of U.S. Patriot stockpiles—roughly 1,500 out of 2,330 interceptors—were expended during the campaign against Iran. By the end of July, CSIS analysts estimated that the remaining U.S. Patriot stockpiles stood at fewer than 1,000 missiles.
Ed Arnold, an expert at the British Royal United Services Institute, noted that deliveries to Ukraine had been planned in advance and were relatively manageable, whereas the need for massive deployment of interceptors in the Middle East arose much sooner than expected, exposing the limitations of the production chain.
The shortage is particularly acute for Europe, as there are currently few alternatives to the Patriot system for intercepting modern ballistic missiles.
France and Italy are developing a new version of the SAMP/T NG system, which is expected to have broader capabilities against ballistic targets; however, this new variant has not yet been tested in actual combat conditions. The current version of the SAMP/T has a shorter range than the Patriot.
A sharp increase in production capacity should partially resolve the problem.
In 2026, approximately 600–650 modern PAC-3 MSE missiles are expected to be produced, and the U.S. defense industry plans to increase production capacity to 2,000 interceptors per year by 2030. Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon have already signed agreements designed to significantly expand production.
Additional production capacity is being established directly in Europe.
In September 2026, the first European production center for Patriot missiles is scheduled to launch in Schrobenhausen, Germany. The facility is being established by COMLOG, a joint venture between MBDA Deutschland and the American company Raytheon.
The new facility will carry out final assembly and testing of PAC-2 GEM-T missiles. The first deliveries are expected in 2027. Among the countries that have already placed orders, AP lists Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain.
Raytheon received a separate $3.7 billion contract in April 2026 to produce GEM-T missiles for Ukraine. The company explicitly stated that the new plant in Germany is also expected to play a key role in replenishing Ukraine’s stockpile of interceptors.
For Ukraine, this situation means increased competition for the limited supply of missiles being produced. Kyiv needs the Patriot system primarily to intercept Russian ballistic missiles, which remain one of the most challenging targets for Ukraine’s air defense.
At the same time, U.S. manufacturers must replenish their own stockpiles, meet the needs of European NATO members, fulfill orders from Middle Eastern countries, and continue to support Ukraine.
CSIS warns that even with a significant ramp-up in production, it will take several years to fully replenish U.S. stockpiles. Until new production lines reach full capacity, the U.S. and its allies will have to prioritize the allocation of a limited number of interceptors among Europe, Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific region.
