The EU returned to a goods-trade deficit in the second quarter as its energy gap widened to 101.1 billion euros. Elsewhere, copper inventories shifted toward the United States ahead of a possible tariff, Canadian rail freight rose for a third month, and Türkiye's crude-steel output grew even as production across 70 reporting countries edged lower.
The EU imported 701.8 billion euros of goods and exported 680.0 billion euros in the second quarter of 2026. The difference left the overall goods-trade balance with a deficit of 21.8 billion euros. It was the first goods-trade deficit since the second quarter of 2023.[1]
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange traded as high as 14,343 dollars a tonne on Tuesday, close to the all-time high of 14,527.50 dollars, after orders to withdraw 65,400 tonnes from LME warehouses. COMEX inventories, meanwhile, rose for 46 consecutive days to a record 675,185 tonnes. The report says traders were moving metal into the United States before a possible 15 per cent tariff on refined copper from 1 January 2027, rising to 30 per cent in 2028. CRU's projected 639,000 tonne global surplus for 2026 leaves an alternative explanation in view: the tightness may reflect where the metal sits rather than a worldwide shortage.[2]
Canadian railways carried 30.9 million tonnes of freight in June, a 3.2 per cent annual increase and the third consecutive monthly rise. Canola loadings grew 44.1 per cent and fuel oils and crude petroleum 41.3 per cent, while first-half freight reached 190.6 million tonnes. Türkiye produced 3.4 million tonnes of crude steel in July, 7 per cent more than a year earlier. Output across the 70 reporting countries moved the other way, slipping 0.3 per cent to 149.2 million tonnes. The transport and production releases showed physical goods flows moving in different directions by country and product during the period.[3], [4]
