The three month copper contract on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was priced at about $14,484 a tonne on 28 October 2026. This is the global dollar benchmark for the metal, and it is the figure that most market reports quote when they speak about copper.
An Indian trader or investor looking at the copper price in India will see the same metal quoted very differently, in rupees per kg on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX). The two quotes are for the same metal, but they use different currencies, different units and different contract sizes, and many individuals are confusing one with the other.
What the LME benchmark covers
The London Metal Exchange sets the specification that most of the world uses when it speaks about copper. As per the LME, the metal delivered against its contract must be Grade A cathode and the cathode must meet one of three named standards: BS EN 1978:2022, GB/T 467-2010 or ASTM B115-10.
The standard lot on the LME is 25 tonnes of copper. Traders buying or selling one lot are therefore dealing in a fixed quantity, and the dollar quote is applied to that quantity.
The LME also allows some variation in the warrant which is the document that represents the metal held in an approved warehouse. A warrant may vary by plus or minus 2% from the standard lot size, so the exact weight behind a single warrant can differ slightly from 25 tonnes.
These rules are the same for every buyer, whether the metal is traded in London or the quote is later used by a market in another country.
Where MCX fits in
The Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) offers copper as a rupee contract, so Indian market participants see the price in rupees per kg and not in dollars per tonne. The lot size is 2,500 kg, and the smallest price movement allowed, called the tick, is 5 paise.
Because the unit is a kg and not a tonne, the rupee quote will look very small next to the dollar figure, even when both are describing the same metal on the same day.
