Copper Price

Copper is a metallic element, represented on the periodic table of elements by the atomic number 29 and the chemical symbol Cu, from the Latin word cuprum, meaning from the ‘isle of Cyprus,’ the island where the Romans first mined copper.

 

Quick Overview of Copper

✔️An overview of the element copper (Cu)
✔️The production of copper
✔️Trading with or investing in copper
Factors that drive the price of copper as a commodity
Uses of copper
Did you know?

 

An overview of the element copper (Cu)

On the periodic table of elements, copper is classified as a transition metal, together with other metals such as gold (Au), platinum (Pt), silver (Ag), and zinc (Zn), to name a few.

Britannica.com defines a transition metal (also called transition element) as ‘any of various chemical elements that have valence electrons – i.e., electrons that can participate in the formation of chemical bonds – in two shells instead of only one. While the term transition has no particular chemical significance, it is a convenient name by which to distinguish the similarity of the atomic structures and resulting properties of the elements so designated.’ (Accentuations in the quotation are by the article writer.)

General properties shared by transition metals are that most of them are strong, hard, and lustrous. Furthermore, they have high boiling and melting points and are good conductors of electricity and heat. For instance, copper is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity.

Properties of copper

In addition to the properties mentioned above, copper has the following properties:

• Boiling point: 2 562 degrees Celsius (4 644 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Melting point: 1 084.62 degrees Celsius (1 984.32 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Copper is ductile, malleable, and soft, implying that it can be readily machined and stretched into a wire-like form.
• It is resistant to corrosion.
• It has a brown-reddish-metallic colour.
• Copper does eventually oxidise (especially in moist air) to form a copper oxide or copper sulfate, commonly referred to as verdigris, which is a green or bluish patina (layer). This layer protects the copper from further physical damage.
• The metal has a density of 8.933 grams per cubic centimetre.

 

The production of copper

Top ten countries currently producing the most copper

Analysts are unanimous that the South American countries, Chile, and Peru, are the two major global producers of copper.

Regarding places 3 to 10 on the top 10-list, the opinions of analysts differ as follows:

The number three and four spots vary between China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with China slightly the favourite to take spot 3.

The United States and Australia are placed fifth and sixth.

Russia and Zambia are allocated places seven and eight, with Russia mostly favoured to earn seventh place.

The ninth and tenth spots alternate between Indonesia, Mexico, and Kazakhstan.

Chile is by far the largest producer, producing almost 2.5 times the amount of copper produced by Peru, the second-ranked producer.

 

Largest copper mines in the world

The top ten copper mines in the world are situated in six of the ten major global producers: 3 in Chile, 3 in Peru, 1 in Indonesia, 1 in Mexico, 1 in the USA, and 1 in Russia.

The top ten list of copper mines are:

1. Escondida (Chile)
2. Grasberg (Indonesia)
3. Collahuasi (Chile)
4. Buenavista del Cobri (Mexico)
5. Morenci (USA)
6. Cerro Verde ii (Peru)
7. Polar Division (Russia)
8. Antamina Peru)
9. Las Bambas (Peru)
10. El Teniente (Chile)

Regarding the remaining countries in the top 10 list, the biggest copper mines are:

• The Yu Long Mine in Tibet in China.
• The Kakula Copper Mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
• The Olympic Dam Mine in Australia.
• The Kansanshi Mine in Zambia.
• The Dolinny Mine in East Kazakhstan.

 

Processing Copper

Copper occurs naturally in the crust of the Earth, at concentrations between 60 and 70 parts per million (ppm).

Leonardo ENERGY explains ‘while most mines operate with copper concentrations of between 0.2 and 0.8%, some of the richest ore bodies, located in central to southern Africa, can contain 5 – 6% copper.

Nowadays, copper is mostly obtained from copper ores such as cuprite, malachite, tenorite, azurite, bornite, chalcopyrite, and covellite.

Two mining methods are basically used to extract copper from the crust of the Earth, namely open pit, or underground mining.

The large rocks (containing copper) that were mined are then crushed into smaller pieces. This is done by a variety of subsequent processes.

Next, a process called beneficiation is applied. This process concentrates the copper in a more usable form, which can be ground into fine material.

The copper is then separated from waste materials and then refined further through smelting, producing sulfide ore concentrate and an oxide ore leach solution from the solvent extraction process, according to the Copper Development Association Inc.

Copper obtained from the smelter is melted and cast as anodes, while the solution from the solvent extraction process moves to a plating operation.

Finally, high-purity copper cathodes are produced from the sulfide ore concentrate obtained from the smelter.

 

Recycling of copper

Copper is fully recyclable and does not lose any of its features during the recycling process. About 50 percent of the copper used every year is obtained from recycled copper.

 

Trading with or investing in copper

The applications of copper in various industries, make it an excellent commodity to trade. There are various ways to trade with or invest in copper. For example:

• Buy physical quantities of copper and hold onto it until you are ready to sell it.
• Copper bullion, available in bullion bars and coins, can be purchased from metals dealers. Copper bullion is refined to a purity level of 0.999 copper.
• Copper futures are an option if you expect that the price of copper will increase in the future. A futures contract allows a trader to agree on a price to pay today for a quantity of copper that will be delivered at a predetermined date in the future. Copper futures are traded at the COMEX (The Commodity Exchange Inc.), on the London Metal Exchange (LME), and on the Multi-Commodity Exchange in India.
• Copper contracts for difference (CFDs) allow a trader to trade real-time price movements without the requirement to buy any physical copper. CFDs enable traders/investors to profit when the price of copper goes up or down.

A regulated, professional commodity broker will give more information about the methods mentioned above, as well as other possibilities to trade copper and the requirements and risks involved in trading the metal.

 

 

Factors that drive the price of copper as a commodity

The copper price is considerably influenced by the overall strength of the global economy. This is due to the metal’s widespread uses in numerous sectors of the economy such as construction, power generation, transmission, electric vehicles (EVs), and electronics. Copper is considered as a key barometer and leading indicator of the global economy. An increasing market price is an indication of strong economic health, while a declining copper price suggests the opposite.

 

Other driving factors are, amongst others:

• Emerging markets

Emerging markets like China, India, and Brazil are key players in the demand for copper. Their fast-growing economies require infrastructures to support their construction industries and the expansion of transportation systems. The need for copper in these countries may support the copper price.

Contrarily, a decline in the demand for copper may affect the price of the metal negatively.

 

• Supply disruptions

Government policies in major copper-producing countries can disrupt the supply chain of copper, especially in the two top global suppliers, Chile, and Peru.

In addition, labour strikes by miners of large copper mines can also disrupt the supply of copper, causing a rise in the price of copper.

Also, natural disasters like earthquakes and landslides can hamper the production of copper, causing the copper price to increase.

 

• Substitutions

Copper is no exception to the economic principle of substitution, implying that as the price of a commodity rises, buyers will look for cheaper substitutions, if available.

Aluminum (aluminium) is nowadays used as a substitute for copper in electrical equipment, refrigeration equipment, and power cables.

Other competitors in some industries are nickel, lead, and iron.

 

Uses of copper

The use of copper goes back more than 10 000 years. It was the first metal to be worked by humans, along with gold and meteoritic iron.

People discovered methods for extracting copper from copper ores at least 7 000 years ago.

Regarding industrial use, copper is the third most used metal in the world, behind iron and aluminium (aluminum).

According to Statista, the largest global consumers (as per region) of refined copper in 2025 were as follows:

• China: 52 percent of the total global consumption volume.
• European countries: 16 percent.
• Other Asian countries: 15 percent.
• The Americas: 8 percent.
• Other: 9 percent.

 

Copper is used in numerous industries. For instance:

• Building Construction

More than fifty percent of the global copper supply is applied in the building industry. These applications include electrical wiring, plumbing, and weatherproofing of homes and commercial buildings. Also, copper wiring is used to link telecommunications and cable networks.

 

• Home appliances

Home appliances also contain copper tubing and electrical wires. For instance, magnetrons in microwave ovens. It is also used in cookware as well as other products.

 

• Electronic products and electronics

Copper is found in the form of printed circuit boards and electrical wiring in numerous electronic products such as smartphones, TVs, surveillance systems, laptops, and power tools, to name a few.

 

• Industrial equipment and machinery

Machinery and equipment used in this industry include, amongst others, evaporators, electrical motors, condensers, and electrical motors.

Also, copper alloys that are corrosion-resistant are used to manufacture oil and gas drilling platforms.

As a cleantech metal, copper is applied in the manufacture of solar energy systems and windmill turbines.

 

• Transportation

Copper is used in various sectors of the transportation industry, for instance:

Shipbuilding, in which copper alloys are standard materials in the manufacture of propellers, and condenser pipes.

In the railway sector, metal is used to make train parts such as motors, brakes, and electric systems.

Planes require copper for hydraulics, navigation, and electronic systems.

In the automotive sector, copper is an essential component in brakes, bearings, connectors, radiators, and wiring, to name a few. Electric vehicles (EVs) need a significant amount of copper. Actually, each EV requires two to four times more copper than a conventional vehicle.

 

• Medical uses

The metal has strong anti-microbial properties, allowing the US Environmental Protection Agency to approve the registration and use of certain copper alloys to replace plastic and other metals on countertops, doorknobs, bedrails, and handrails in hospitals.

 

Other applications of copper

Copper is also used in various musical instruments, the production of whisky, engraving, glassmaking, and in jewellery. It is also used to control algae.

 

Did you know?

• Copper is a unique metal in the sense that it has a brown-reddish colour. All the other metals, excluding gold, are silver in colour. Gold has a yellowish colour.
• The Statue of Liberty (located on Liberty Island in New York City) is covered with a thin layer of copper. The statue stayed the brown-reddish colour of copper for about 35 years. By 1920, the copper layer had begun to oxidise, turning gradually to the colour that is seen today, a shade of green.
• Oxidation is also the reason why cheap jewellery, which contains copper, frequently discolours a person’s skin.
• Red gold or rose gold is made when copper is added to gold.
• Brass, a copper alloy, is used to make door handles that are installed in public buildings, helping to prevent the transmission of diseases.
• The metal is toxic to invertebrates such as mussels and barnacles. Hence, it is used on ship hulls, preventing them to attach to the hulls.

 

Note: This article does not constitute investment, financial, or trading advice. Please obtain the advice of a professional and regulated commodity broker before making trading and investment decisions.