Copper is becoming like gold - Mega-deals expected in the industry
The copper rush is opening the door for mega-deals in the industry, as giant players fight to further increase their market shares, while the competition is constantly making new moves.
The world's largest mining and quarrying company, BHP, is under pressure to respond with major acquisition deals of its own, as giant Rio Tinto seeks to buy Glencore.
If this deal goes through, it will create a powerful new player in the mining sector that will dethrone BHP from first place and will have a capitalization of over $200 billion.
Foreign bankers say they expect new big deals and acquisitions in the sector by 2026. Last September, London-listed mining company Anglo American announced a merger with Canada's Teck Resources, creating a new giant focused on copper. BHP had also tried to get involved in that deal.
Making deals could help metals companies increase their production more quickly than they would by developing new copper mines, which could take decades to materialize.
The growing demand for copper is currently being driven more by moves by powerful players to secure more of this key industrial metal, essential for powering artificial intelligence technology.
Demand for copper is expected to exceed supply by 25%, or 10 million tonnes, by 2040, according to S&P Global forecasts. That is expected to happen unless mines further increase production, which currently seems unlikely to happen - at least to this extent.
US copper prices rose 41% last year and have continued their upward trend this year. The main reason is concerns that demand for the so-called red metal will exceed supply. There is also uncertainty about whether new tariffs will be imposed this year by the US on imports of processed copper products. This has led market players to rush to close contracts now.
In November, the U.S. Geological Survey added copper to the list of critical minerals considered vital to national security and the economy, a categorization that could open the door to federal aid to encourage production.
Copper is in high demand as an electrical conductor. The growing popularity of electric vehicles and renewable energy sources such as solar power has also increased demand, as has defense spending on copper-rich munitions.
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