Copper: published research is lining up firmly on the bullish side.
Multiple strands of recent third-party analysis converge on the same view — copper prices have room to run over the cyclical horizon, driven by tight supply and durable demand.
Researchers argue that opening major new copper mines is slow and expensive, which builds in a scarcity premium as strategic buyers stockpile in a more fragmented geopolitical world. One camp of analysts frames it through a "resource independence" lens, noting copper has lagged recently on the back of the Iran conflict but remains cyclically sensitive and set to recover as global manufacturing surveys improve.
A longer-horizon strand of published research cites industry projections that global copper consumption climbs from roughly 28 million tonnes today to 42 million by 2040, largely driven by AI infrastructure — a demand curve current supply cannot meet.
A more tactical thread adds that speculative positioning has quietly unwound from crowded levels while physical demand and Chinese inventories stayed tight, which analysts read as a cleaner setup for upside.