The commodity super-cycle remains in full swing across the globe. With the usual suspects like gold (GCM24) and silver (SIN24) scaling new highs, copper is also participating in the rally. May-dated copper futures (HGK24) set another new high last week, and ended Friday's session more than 3% higher. Already up an impressive 29% on a YTD basis, copper's uptrend is expected to continue due to secular tailwinds for the industrial metal.
Specifically, brokerage firm Bank of America (BAC) believes that demand for copper will be driven by the green energy transition, manufacturing, data centers, artificial intelligence (AI), and electrification. Separately, McKinsey forecasts electrification to raise annual copper demand to 36.6 million metric tons by 2031. And in a report from S&P Global, the market intelligence firm forecasts that global copper demand will surge by 20% by 2035, up to 30 million metric tonnes per year.
