Rise in Copper Prices: A Year That Outperformed Gold

Industrial demand driven by artificial intelligence, electrical grid investments, and defense spending has caused copper prices to rise by 15.8% since the beginning of the year, allowing the metal to outperform gold.

Copper, a critical component for the electronics, construction, and transportation sectors, has performed better than gold this year amid growing demand for secure supply. Copper prices have recorded an increase of more than 30% over the past 12 months. In contrast, gold futures have declined by 4.11% since the beginning of the year and dropped by 4.52% over the past year. Spot gold has lost 4.89% in value over the past year and 4% since the beginning of the year.

Taylor Melvin, CEO of Ivanhoe Electric, stated that countries and industries are focusing on securing access to metals for national security, economic growth, and technological infrastructure. Melvin noted that the tech sector's demand for copper is inelastic and that major technology companies do not shape their data center investments based on the cost of copper.