Copper Near Thirteen Thousand Per Ton as AI Infrastructure Demand Hits Supply Wall

The AI and Grid Bottleneck

Copper is increasingly viewed as the ultimate 'choke point' for the AI revolution and the energy transition. With hyperscale data center projects outpacing global mine production in Chile and Peru, the market is facing a 'forced re-pricing' of refined copper assets to incentivize scrap use and mine life extensions.

Inventory and Tariff Positioning

Global inventories outside the US have dropped to multi-year lows. Traders are aggressively front-running potential US tariffs on refined copper expected by mid-2026, leading to a massive influx of metal into US warehouses and a subsequent supply vacuum in Asian and European hubs.