Copper exchange inventories have climbed above 1 million tons for the first time in 21 years. Meanwhile, smelter activity has slowed, China’s demand softened, yet the price remains elevated despite pulling back from January highs.
The answer lies in a lack of confidence in long-term supply. The market has entered an era of electricity intensity. Therefore, copper is no longer merely a cyclical industrial input but a foundational infrastructure for the 21st-century economy.
Months Vs. Decades
Electric vehicles require roughly 4 times as much copper as internal combustion cars. Solar farms, wind turbines, and the grid expansions that connect them are copper-heavy. Meanwhile, hyperscale data centers, the physical backbone of AI and cloud computing, are being rolled out at unprecedented speed.
Strategic Responses
Growth in Emerging Markets
Supply-side numbers are tightening as existing mines face surging capex just to maintain current production. According to Kitco, veteran investor Rick Rule puts that number at $250 billion over the next 10 years. Thus, the focus has shifted to emerging markets.
“DRC is really at the center of the critical metal race. It’s chasing Chile for the world’s biggest producer.” Cloete said in an interview for BNN Bloomberg.
Despite being rich in gold and particularly in cobalt, Ivanhoe doesn’t produce either in the DRC. Yet, given copper’s importance, Cloete is not losing sleep over geology.
“Copper is going places. We are very bullish on copper,” she concluded.
Photo by Ziadi Lotfi via Shutterstock
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