MCX does not invent a copper price. It borrows London’s and wraps it in rupees. The wrapping is where your risk lives.

One price, two wrappers

Since a 2005 licensing agreement, MCX has used LME prices to settle its metal futures. The MCX copper price is roughly the LME price in dollars per tonne, divided by 1,000, multiplied by the USD/INR rate, then grossed up for import duty and logistics. MCX contracts settle in rupees.

That link explains the morning ritual. If copper jumps in London overnight, MCX gaps up at its 9 AM IST open even if nothing happened in India. In November, London runs five and a half hours behind Kolkata. Two clocks, one metal.

The gap is not a constant

Here is the same day, 23 October 2026, for three metals. The last column converts the LME price at ₹95 per dollar, the level seen in mid-2026 reports. Replace it with that day’s RBI rate for real work.

Copper’s gap is thin and zinc’s is wide. Duties and taxes differ by metal, and the government revises them, so a gap you calculate today will not hold forever.

Three things move the gap

The rupee moves it first: a weaker rupee lifts MCX even when LME is flat. Duty and local costs move it second. The third is timing. LME’s three-month benchmark and an MCX expiry month are different contracts, so comparing them without matching months produces a gap that is not real.

Hedge the price you carry

The mismatch between the price you pay and the price you sell at is called basis risk. A buyer who pays an importer at LME plus a premium in dollars carries an LME exposure and a currency exposure. A seller who quotes Indian customers off MCX carries an MCX exposure. Large Indian buyers have historically placed much of their metal hedging on LME, but whether and how a given company may do so depends on its regulatory permissions, so confirm the route with your authorised dealer bank and treasury adviser before acting.

1. List every contract with the price it follows (LME, MCX or fixed) and the currency it settles in.
2. Track the basis monthly for each metal: MCX price minus converted LME price. Your own series will show what is normal.
3. Hedge metal and currency separately. They are two exposures and need two instruments.
4. Match hedge months to delivery months.
5. Read duty notifications the day they appear. A duty change moves the gap overnight.

Keep two clocks on the wall, but make decisions on one: the clock your contract follows.

General market information, not financial advice.

Sources

• One Trade Journal: How to trade copper on MCX and the LME link
• Rupeezy: Why MCX prices differ from international prices
• Business Standard: MCX to use LME prices for futures settlement (2005)
• Business Standard: MCX measures to save metal segment (2019)
• Cbonds: LME and MCX spot prices, 23 October 2026