The price of copper has risen – how long will the bull market last?
The price of copper has leapt to almost a two-year high, but demand for the metal continues to outstrip supply. How long will the market remain bullish?

We are entering the “copper age”, says Étienne Goetz in Les Echos. The price of copper has jumped by 18% this year to trade close to two-year highs of roughly $9,910 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.
Business intelligence company CRU Group estimates that $150bn in investment in new supply will be required between 2025 and 2032 to meet growing global copper demand. Yet higher interest rates and environmental opposition to mining projects are making investors reluctant to stump up the cash.
Copper “exploration budgets have fallen since the early 2010s”, says the Financial Times. Going from discovery to production can take more than ten years, increasing the risk that projects are derailed by politics or changing market conditions. Prices might need to rise by 20% to incentivise interest in new mines.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Could the price of copper could rise further?
Miner BHP’s recent bid for London miner Anglo American reflects growing interest in copper. Yet it is telling that commodity giants would rather bid for existing operations than open brand new mines.
“Shifting assets from one owner to another” does nothing to address the looming copper crunch. Copper is vital for everything from electrical switches to solar panels and electric vehicle components.
The looming copper crunch investors eye up EM bonds says Sohrab Darabshaw in Metal Miner. In 2022, global copper production was about 22,000 kilotonnes, compared with demand of 26,000 kilotonnes (recycling bridges the gap). In the long term, demand may hit 33,000 kilotonnes, leading to a yearly deficit of roughly 6,000 kilotonnes by 2030.
By one estimate, that could eventually push prices as high as $15,000 per tonne. Analysts at Citi forecast a 1,000 kilotonne supply deficit over the next three years, says Megha Mandavia in The Wall Street Journal.
China buys about half the world’s copper supply. Booming electric vehicle and solar panel production has seen the country’s copper demand rise by 18% year on year over the past five months. It remains to be seen whether this frenetic rate of production can be maintained, while demand from the domestic property market remains “flat on its back”.
The copper outlook is auspicious, but the metal “still isn’t a one-way bet”. It takes “three times as much copper to generate the same amount of electricity on a solar farm as in a gas-fired power station”, says Tom Stevenson in The Telegraph. For offshore wind, it is “nearly eight times”.
Tomorrow’s growth sectors have “an insatiable appetite” for the metal. A long period of weak prices saw capital expenditure on new copper mines drop by more than 40% between 2012 and 2020. These are classic preconditions for a commodity price supercycle – prices “do nothing for years”, companies fail to invest, then a “credible demand-growth story” emerges and prices rocket.
This article was first published in MoneyWeek magazine. Enjoy exclusive early access to news, opinion and analysis from our team of financial experts with a MoneyWeek subscription.
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019.
Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere.
He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful.
Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.
-
HMRC confirms crypto ETN ISA rules
With crypto ETNs now technically available for UK retail investors, HMRC has confirmed they can be held in an ISA – but there’s a complication
-
Pensioners targeted in fine wine scams – the tactics to watch for
Wine has emerged as the latest lure in investment fraud, with pensioners being specifically targeted by scammers
-
Pierre-Édouard Stérin wants to make France great again
Conservative billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin is seeking to lead a political and spiritual renaissance across the Channel. The planning looks meticulous
-
Global investors have overlooked the top innovators in emerging markets
Opinion Carlos Hardenberg, portfolio manager, Mobius Investment Trust, highlights three emerging market stocks where he’d put his money
-
Pinewood Technologies: a drive for growth
Pinewood Technologies’ platform is one of the best in the business. Investors should buy in
-
'EV maker Faraday Future will crash'
Faraday Future Intelligent Electric is failing dismally to live up to its name, says Matthew Partridge
-
Investors should cheer the coming nuclear summer
The US and UK have agreed a groundbreaking deal on nuclear power, and the sector is seeing a surge in interest from around the world. Here's how you can profit
-
8 of the best houses for sale with follies
The best houses for sale with follies in the grounds – from a five-storey Victorian Gothic tower in Tonbridge, Kent, to a former mill in Oxfordshire with gardens that include a folly on an island in a lake
-
A tale of two Reits – why performance matters for valuation
AEW UK and Regional are two Reits that are valued very differently, despite a shared focus on properties outside London
-
Healthcare stocks look cheap, but tread carefully
Shares in healthcare companies could get a shot in the arm if uncertainty over policy in the US wanes, but are they worth the risk?