Industrial metals seriously underestimated amid the AI chip craze

Copper prices have risen by 28% this year, reaching a historic high. But the truth behind this is even more interesting – the power demand of global data centers is expected to soar from 2% of global electricity consumption in 2025 to 9% by 2050. What does this mean? The demand for copper will need to rise sixfold.

Don't just look at the futures rise; what's really taking off are copper mining stocks. Since the beginning of this year, the rise has already exceeded 66%, because the market has sensed a signal: the era of supply not meeting demand has arrived.

Why now?

AI data centers require a large amount of copper to transmit power and signals. The Trump administration has just listed copper as a strategically critical mineral (alongside rare earths and uranium), indicating that copper has risen to the level of national security.

Global copper mine production capacity is not keeping up with demand. From factories, houses, cars, chips to electrical equipment, copper is indispensable. Moreover, these items require copper to be purchased several years in advance—copper prices are essentially a barometer of the global economy.

How to invest?

Global X Copper Miners ETF (COPX) is an entry:

• The position size is approximately $3.37 billion, covering 41 copper mining companies.
• Rate of 0.65%, lower than the industry average of 0.95%
• Global diversified layout: Canada’s Lundin Mining (5.55%), America’s Southern Copper (4.94%), Sweden’s Boliden (4.89%), and UK-Switzerland’s Glencore (4.88%), etc.
• No single stock has a weight greater than 5%, which means the risk is relatively diversified.

The benefit of geographic diversification is the avoidance of political risks from a single country—civil wars, expropriations, and tariffs do not threaten overall performance.

Current Situation

The current price of copper futures on the Comex exchange is $5.10 per pound, nearly triple the increase since the beginning of the year. The market generally expects that copper will maintain a supply gap in the coming years.

If you believe that the AI wave will continue to expand, the copper mining sector has support from both fundamentals and valuations. Now may indeed be the time to get in — at least before the true explosion of AI power demand.