COMPONENT PRICES
Cable Price Today: Price, Trends and Forecast 2026 | Tacto
31.08.2026
Current cable price based on the LAPP metal quotation (August LCP 1,224.32 EUR/100 kg, a new record; the September value is mathematically set for a further jump, with the August LME average 6.1 percent above the July average). Trend analysis on the short aluminium window (August LAP 414.63 EUR/100 kg, down 7.9 percent), the London squeeze as the driver of the September value, and the still-open Section 232 staged tariff. Scenarios and procurement recommendations for European industrial buyers.
METHODOLOGY
LCP (LAPP Copper Price) and LAP (LAPP Aluminium Price) are derived from LME cash settlements, the ECB euro reference rate, a cathode premium and ancillary surcharges. LAPP applies the previous month's average for the next month's quotation. Real cable prices additionally include cable type, metal base, construction, shielding, standards, conversion and logistics.
AT A GLANCE
- The August LCP was published with a delay and marks the next record: 1,224.32 EUR/100 kg, up 0.5 percent on July; the record continuation calculated in the previous cycle has materialised (LAPP).
- The real news is September: the August LME copper average stands at 14,353.40 USD/t as of 28 August, up 6.1 percent on the July average. Under the LCP mechanics the September value is set for a jump towards 1,290 EUR/100 kg; publication was still pending on 30 August.
- The aluminium window is open but short: the August LAP falls sharply to 414.63 EUR/100 kg (down 7.9 percent), yet the August aluminium average already sits 3.0 percent above July; the September LAP turns mathematically slightly higher. Run conversion calculations now.
- The CBP smelt-and-cast reporting requirement remains in practice, the staged-tariff decision on refined copper open after nine weeks; copper foil scarcity is spreading from HVLP to standard grades per Evertiq.
Contents
What is moving the price right now?
The August LCP was published with a delay and marks the next record: 1,224.32 EUR/100 kg, up 0.5 percent on the July value of 1,217.87. The record continuation calculated in the previous cycle has materialised; the gap to the prior year grows to 41.5 percent.
The real news, however, is September. The August monthly average of LME copper cash stands at 14,353.40 USD/t from 20 trading days as of 28 August, up 6.1 percent on the July average of 13,525.17 (Westmetall series). It was driven by the London squeeze around 17 August, when cash marked the high of the series at 14,850.00 USD/t; the delivery wave from 18 August capped the monthly average, no more. Under the LCP mechanics, which reflect the prior-month average, the September LCP is set for a jump in the order of 1,290 EUR/100 kg, subject to the ECB rate and the cathode premium. Publication, usually between the 28th and 30th of the prior month, was still pending on 30 August; we will check again before go-live.
For aluminium the window is open but short: the August LAP falls sharply to 414.63 EUR/100 kg, down 7.9 percent, because the July aluminium average sat 8.7 percent below June. But the August average already sits 3.0 percent above July (3,249.62 USD/t), so the September LAP turns mathematically slightly higher. For the copper-to-aluminium conversion calculation, August is the month with the widest gap: the LCP at a record, the LAP at its lowest since March.
On the regulatory side the situation stays tense: the CBP smelt-and-cast country reporting requirement for wire and cable imports into the US has been practice since 30 July, and the decision on the staged tariff on refined copper (15 percent from 2027, 30 percent from 2028) remains open nine weeks after the deadline. When it lands, it moves the LME average and with it the LCP chain in a day.
The secondary effect from the PCB market is widening: copper foil scarcity is spreading from the HVLP grades for AI applications to standard foils (Evertiq, 19 August); foil makers keep tying up capacity that the cable market lacks.
What we watch: the September publication of the LAPP quotation, the cash premium and stocks as drivers of the September average (which sets the October LCP), and the staged-tariff decision.
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What does this mean for procurement in Europe?
Use up call-offs on the August quotation now: the September LCP is mathematically largely fixed and sits well above the August value. Anyone pushing call-offs into September buys around five percent more expensively on today's arithmetic; waiting achieves nothing in this mechanism because the prior-month average has already run.
Show the metal surcharge (LCP), conversion and logistics separately. The LCP sits 41.5 percent above the prior year while conversion costs rise far more slowly; without the breakdown the difference migrates into the supplier's margin.
Calculate aluminium conductors with the August LAP of 414.63 EUR/100 kg, and do it now: the window is short, and the September LAP turns mathematically slightly higher again. For recurring needs it pays to lock in the copper-aluminium ratio contractually while the gap is as wide as it rarely is.
Anyone supplying into US chains works under the reporting requirement: demand smelt-and-cast documentation per position from upstream suppliers and add an adjustment clause for the pending staged-tariff decision to H2 and 2027 contracts.
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Cable Price Forecast: Our Procurement Intelligence Team's Assessment
Base Scenario
The August value is fixed at 1,224.32 EUR/100 kg; for September: (1) the August LME average (up 6.1 percent as of 28 August) mathematically sets the September LCP into this band, around 1,290 EUR/100 kg excluding currency effects, (2) the easing of the London squeeze since 18 August has capped the remaining upside in the monthly average, (3) the open staged-tariff decision and low stocks hold the floor. Only a sharp spot correction in early September would take the October LCP back towards 1,250.
Risk Scenario
The London tightness enters a second round and drives the September average (the basis of the October LCP), the president confirms the staged tariff on refined copper, or the Gulf situation escalates again. Probability 25 to 30 percent over the next three months.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Most sensitive are power cables, control and automation cables, data center cables, and applications in grid, industrial, and EV charging infrastructure. These segments sit at the intersection of high metal relevance and robust demand — making price and availability pressure most visible.
Metal-driven primarily when metal surcharges or metal-adjacent components are demonstrably rising. Construction- or delivery-driven when additional requirements from termination, code compliance, shielding, short lead times, or custom configurations add cost. In practice, both layers are often working together right now.
Because the metal content share and construction vary significantly by cable type. Building wire with high copper content sees almost immediate pass-through. Complex industrial cables with significant non-metal content see a more moderated effect. The same copper chart should not automatically be applied with the same intensity to every cable type.
Copper is an important driver but not a complete reference for cable pricing. What matters for your procurement is the surcharge logic — how the metal base, metal index, and metal content share for the specific cable type feed into the price. Construction, insulation, shielding, code requirements, and logistics add further cost layers.
