Securing Outsized Gains in
the 2025 Copper Bull Market
Copper, often referred to as “Doctor Copper” due to its ability to reflect the health of the global economy, has been a vital industrial metal for centuries.
Copper’s unique conductivity, malleability, and versatility make it indispensable in the manufacturing of a wide range of products across a multitude of industry sectors ranging from construction to renewable energy — and more recently into the EV and AI space.
In 2024, the global copper market found itself navigating a dynamic environment marked by strong demand coupled with supply-side disruptions and rising geopolitical uncertainty.
The outlook for the red metal in 2025 remains decidedly bullish, driven by an anticipated demand surge coupled with supply-side constraints particularly from North America and China.
Global Copper Demand in 2025:
A Powerful Surge Underway
Global copper demand looks robust as we kick off the new year — along with a new administration here in the US — supported by key global economic trends across developed and emerging nations.
A primary driver of that demand is the rapid expansion of renewable energy infrastructure across the globe. As the world continues to transition toward cleaner energy sources, the red metal’s role in the energy transition is becoming ever more critical.
From solar panels and wind turbines to wiring needed for massive AI data centers serving the multi-trillion-dollar tech sector, copper is essential to the efficient transmission and storage of green energy.
For example, wind energy requires 2,000 tonnes of copper per gigawatt on average.
Solar needs even more; about 5,000 tonnes of copper per gigawatt.
The Oregon Group recently published a report stating that 427Mt of copper will be needed by 2050. That’s more than 8 times the current demand level for wind turbines, solar panels, and energy storage combined.
According to the International Copper Study Group (ICSG), global copper usage is expected to rise by 2.3% in 2025, reaching an estimated 26.7 million tonnes (Mt).
That stark increase is being driven by continued investment in green energy infrastructure, as well as the booming electric vehicle (EV) sector, which relies heavily on copper for batteries, charging infrastructure, and electric motors.
The ongoing surge in EV production and adoption is expected to result in a significant uptick in copper demand as an average electric vehicle or hybrid requires about 4X the amount of copper as compared to a typical gasoline-powered car.
In addition to the renewable energy and EV sectors, urbanization and infrastructure development in emerging markets, particularly in Asia and Latin America, are fueling increased demand for copper.
Rapid infrastructure expansion across highly populous countries such as China and India are expected to continue to spur heightened demand for copper across a variety of industries, including the multi-trillion-dollar tech sector, which is investing heavily in Artificial Intelligence (AI).
More on that in a moment.
2025 Copper Supply: Challenges and Disruptions
On the supply side, the global copper market is facing a series of challenges.
One of the primary factors driving what’s expected to be a growing supply deficit this year and in the coming years is the ongoing depletion of high-grade copper deposits coupled with a lack of investment in new copper discoveries worldwide.
Many of the world’s largest copper mines, particularly in Chile and Peru, are reaching the end of their lifespans or are facing declining ore grades. As a result, mining companies are being forced to invest in more capital intensive and complex extraction processes resulting in increased costs and lower profit margins.
Another key challenge is the growing difficulty of establishing new copper projects.
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, fewer large-scale copper discoveries are being made, and the time required to develop new mines has lengthened due to regulatory hurdles, permitting issues, environmental concerns, and local opposition.
As a result, copper supply is not keeping pace with rising demand, creating a significant supply-demand imbalance that’s set to drive copper prices higher to incentivize new investment in copper exploration, mining, and extraction methodologies.
North American Copper Industry: Feeling the Pinch
North America, particularly the United States and Canada, is increasingly becoming a focal point in the global copper supply conversation.
The region is home to numerous large-scale copper mines. Yet, production continues to face constraints, which, in turn, is having an adverse impact on the global copper supply.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), US copper mine production decreased by 2% in 2024 with that downward trend persisting into 2025.
A major source of that disruption continues to revolve around environmental and permitting challenges facing new copper projects.
The approval process for new copper mines in the US has become increasingly difficult with some projects facing years of delays due to environmental reviews and legal challenges.
In particular, copper mines in the southwestern US, such as those in Arizona and New Mexico, are facing difficulties in maintaining output levels due primarily to environmental and permitting challenges.
As just one example, the Resolution Copper Project in Arizona, one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world, has been delayed for nearly a decade now.
The ironically-named Resolution project is seen as a critical component of future US copper production but continues to be hamstrung by local opposition, regulatory hurdles, permitting issues, and environmental concerns.
In Canada, the situation is somewhat similar. Canada is home to several major copper discoveries and mines but these projects too are experiencing a wide array of challenges.
The province of British Columbia, in particular, has seen a rise in opposition to mining projects driven by environmental concerns and indigenous land rights issues.
The result is that new copper mining projects in the region have faced significant delays, further compounding the supply shortage, which, again, is expected to manifest itself in higher copper prices in 2025 and beyond.
Copper Bulls Running in 2025
As we kick off 2025 in earnest, and as we’ve been discussing, the outlook for higher copper demand and higher copper prices remains optimistic.
Demand for the red metal is projected to continue its upward trajectory fueled by the rapid growth of the electric vehicle (EV) market, renewable energy adoption, advances in AI, and increased urbanization.
Demand growth from those sectors is expected to outpace supply, which is already under pressure due to geological challenges and regulatory issues.
In its 2025 copper market forecast, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) sounded the alarm that the global copper market is set to experience a supply deficit of approximately 400,000 tonnes for full-year 2025.
That marks a significant shift as the copper market has historically been in surplus. The combination of strong demand and supply side disruptions, particularly in North America, is expected to push copper prices higher this year and in the coming years.
You can see some of that early price escalation reflected in the copper price chart below.
As mentioned earlier, one of the key drivers of this bullish outlook is the EV revolution. As governments around the world implement stricter emissions standards and provide incentives for EV adoption, global demand for the red metal is expected to continue to rise.
Even though EVs are primarily powered by lithium-ion batteries, they still require up to 175 lbs of copper per vehicle, which, as noted, is roughly 4X the amount used in a typical internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.
According to a recent report from Wood Mackenzie, which predicts copper to trade around $9,000 per metric ton in 2025, the amount of copper required for EVs and their charging infrastructure will rise by 500% by 2030, representing a major source of demand growth for copper in the coming years.
The Rapid Rise of AI
Perhaps the most transformative trend driving global copper demand today is the explosive growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly in the development of massive data centers to support AI-driven technologies.
As AI becomes increasingly integral to everything from machine learning and natural language processing to autonomous vehicles and smart cities, demand for the copper required to support this infrastructure buildout and the computational power therein is expected to continue to increase at a rapid clip.
AI technologies, particularly large language models (LLMs) and machine learning systems, require immense amounts of computational power, which is typically provided by state-of-the-art data centers.
These massive data centers house millions of high-performance computing (HPC) servers, which depend heavily on copper.
The red metal’s unmatched electrical conductivity is critical to efficient power distribution within these systems, as well as for the interconnections between servers. In fact, copper is integral to both the wiring and cooling systems that ensure that these high-powered data centers operate efficiently and without overheating.
The North American tech sector, which includes behemoths such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, and Meta is at the forefront of AI development and, consequently, is and will continue to be one of the largest consumers of copper for data center infrastructure going forward.
- Microsoft plans to invest $80B in building out AI-ready data centers across the globe with a large portion of those to be constructed in the United States.
- Meta (Facebook), aiming to add substantial AI computing power, has announced large-scale data center construction plans, including the buildout of one of the world's largest data centers; a $10B facility planned for northeast Louisiana.
- Add to that the newly-announced Stargate Project, a joint venture (OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle) focused on building massive AI infrastructure in the US with a projected $100B to $500B investment.
Hence, it’s no surprise that AI-related infrastructure spending is expected to grow by double digits year-over-year with AI-specific investments in data centers projected to reach nearly $100B globally this year alone.
That massive spending spree is set to put further demand pressure on the red metal as the tech industry continues to expand its data center buildout and operations to handle the unprecedented data processing needs driven by AI models.
Santiago Jiménez, a senior analyst at Wood Mackenzie, says,
“The rapid rise of AI and the multi-trillion-dollar tech industry in North America is creating a new level of demand for copper. Data centers and the hardware required to run AI applications rely heavily on copper, and this trend is expected to continue as AI becomes more integrated into everything from cloud computing to autonomous systems.”
According to a report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), demand for AI computing infrastructure is expected to outpace traditional IT infrastructure in the coming years, particularly in North America.
With AI data centers requiring more energy, more connections, and increasingly sophisticated cooling systems, the red metal’s role in powering these facilities will only become more pronounced in the years and perhaps decades ahead.
As a result, copper demand across the tech sector is likely to continue to grow at a rapid pace driven by advancements in AI infrastructure.
As the North American tech sector continues to invest heavily in these infrastructure developments — not to mention China, India, and other tech-focused nations — copper will continue to play a central role in powering the next generation of AI technology.
The trend further supports an already bullish outlook for copper, reinforcing the red metal’s importance as a critical component of both traditional and emerging technological industries.
The global AI race is primed to amplify supply-side pressure on copper in 2025 and beyond, which, in turn, is expected to place upward pricing pressure on the metal and on the mining industry to seek out massive new copper discoveries.
In sum, the growing prevalence of AI and the corresponding expansion of AI data centers worldwide represents a major new driver of copper demand.
Why Mining Matters
With demand on the rise and with supply being constrained, mining industry leaders are becoming increasingly bullish on copper’s prospects for 2025 and beyond as the need for major new copper discoveries becomes even more pronounced.
In a statement from Teck Resources, a leading Canadian mining firm, CEO Jonathan Price commented,
“Copper will remain one of the most essential metals for the global transition to a low-carbon economy. With a growing supply-demand gap, we are optimistic about the long-term outlook for copper prices, especially as we move into 2025.”
Similarly, BHP, one of the world’s largest mining companies, has expressed its strong commitment to expanding its copper portfolio. In their 2024 annual report, BHP’s CEO, Mike Henry, stated,
“The demand for copper is only going to increase as the world shifts toward renewable energy, electric vehicles, and modern infrastructure. The supply constraints we are seeing today will only make copper more valuable in the coming years. We are focused on advancing our copper projects to meet this growing need.”
According to a recent study by the University of Michigan and Cornell University, the world needs to open between 35 and 194 new large-scale copper mines by 2050, which would require opening 1.1 to 6 new mines each year for the foreseeable future.
Henceforth, the prevailing bullish consensus in the copper mining industry reflects a broader understanding that copper will play an ever-increasing role in the future of global energy and information systems.
With a combination of widening supply constraints and growing demand, mining industry leaders are seeing significant opportunities for growth and profitability in the copper mining sector via a renewed focus on mineral exploration, advanced recovery methodologies, and project development.
Timing is Spot-On for Investing in the Copper Space
The global copper market is poised for a highly bullish 2025 underpinned by powerful demand across key sectors, including renewable energy, EVs, AI, and urban infrastructure.
The growing supply-demand gap is expected to push copper prices higher in 2025 and beyond, attracting further investment in exploration and development both in North America and globally.
With copper playing a central role in the transition to a low-carbon economy, industry leaders are confident that the red metal will continue to be one of the most important and sought after commodities in the coming decades.
As the market continues to evolve, particularly with the advent of AI, copper’s role in global industrial development will only become more significant, positioning it as a key driver of economic growth in the years ahead.
It all points to the near and long-term profit potential of investing in well-run, well-structured copper exploration and development firms with district-scale copper projects in safe, Tier-1 mining jurisdictions.
Be sure to follow us as our expert team continues to bring you the top investment opportunities in the copper space with a particular focus on the small-cap exploration sector where discoveries of significance are made.
— Daily Profit Cycle Research
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