This possible deal was confirmed by Rio Tinto recently, with a statement confirming that it was engaged in discussions with Glencore with a view to combining "some or all of their businesses". The wide nature of this statement has led to intense speculation about what it could mean for the global markets, particularly copper. These same companies were locked in talks a year ago, but it ended with no agreement being reached.
The copper market has surged in recent weeks, with producers and miners posting double-digit gains as investors position for infrastructure spending and energy transition demand. Against rising commodity prices and cooling labor markets that may prompt Fed policy flexibility, five companies stand out for their copper exposure, operational scale, and momentum. 5. Teck Resources (NYSE:TECK): Diversified Metals Play With Copper Upside Teck Resources delivered an 11.1% gain over the past month, bringing its market cap to $24.27B.
"The result will be a shortfall of 10 million tons that represents a "systemic risk for global industries, technological advancement and economic growth," the report said."
However, a study by financial analyst S&P Global estimates that worldwide production of the metal will peak in 2030 at 33 million metric tons, while demand is forecast to continue growing to reach 42 million metric tons by 2040 - a 50 percent increase from current levels, creating a supply shortfall of about 10 million metric tons without meaningful expansion.
Copper had its best year since 2009, fueled by near-term supply tightness and bets that demand for the metal key in electrification will outpace production. The red metal has notched a series of all-time highs in an end-of-year surge, rallying 42% on the London Metal Exchange this year. That makes it the best performer of the six industrial metals on the bourse. Prices dipped 1.1% Wednesday, the last trading day of 2025.
Vollebak's virus-killing copper jacket can wipe out different kinds of germs and bacteria before they can even have the chance to grow on it. Named Full Metal Jacket, the technical clothing contains three layers of textile with 11 kilometers of copper wire. The design team uses industrial lasers to convert the copper into yarns, which they then weave into a wearable protective piece of clothing.
T wo of the first five major national projects recently advanced by the Mark Carney government for fast tracking involve copper mines. The remaining three involve increased liquefied natural gas production in Kitimat, British Columbia; the construction of a suite of small modular nuclear reactors at the Darlington facility in Ontario; and the expansion of a container port in Montreal. The prioritizing of two copper mines probably took many people by surprise.
Undulating in a Utah Museum of Fine Arts gallery, thousands of glimmering casts seem to float throughout the space. For his large-scale installation "Stone on Boundary," Japanese artist Yasuaki Onishi has suspended 5,000 copper foils that he molded over river rocks in both Osaka and Salt Lake City. Begun in the artist's studio in Osaka-a city where Japanese copper has been refined for export for around two centuries-the installation then traveled to the museum, which sits less than an hour's drive from the world's largest operational open-pit copper mine.