Metso received a massive order of over 180 million from Asia, as reported a couple of weeks ago, and other positive “copper news” has been heard from the company in recent months. That’s great, but is the copper boom just getting started—meaning things will get even better in the future?
There have been reports of supply issues—apparently, there aren’t enough copper discoveries, and any existing copper projects are still in the early stages and far from certain. Plus, in any case, it takes time to develop mines.
S&P Global estimates that copper demand will grow by as much as 50% by 2040. @Jukka7 mentioned in the commodities thread that Trump’s tariffs could also impact copper prices, as Americans are hoarding copper for that reason as well.
The much-discussed data centers require massive amounts of copper, and of course, the defense sector and various energy initiatives do too… Prices are also driven up by various regulations, ESG factors, and general opposition to mining projects, which are slow-moving anyway.
So… the green transition and renewable alternatives in general require a lot of copper; if said transition is viewed as a long-term trend, copper is in a good spot.
We shouldn’t forget electric vehicles—EV adoption fluctuates, but their market share only continues to grow.
Copper is already facing supply issues; it’s in high demand now and will be even more so in the future. For Metso, copper business is a big deal, and it’s tied to these long-term trends…
Is Metso set for a nice stock price rally thanks to copper? After all, the company also has other growth drivers (perhaps), plus it has more stable and profitable aftermarket business as its foundation, so isn’t Metso starting to look like a pretty sweet investment?
Am I oversimplifying things too much, or is Metso well-positioned for the copper rally? On the other hand, if copper isn’t being produced in massive quantities relative to demand, then Metso can’t make much money either, because the products Metso offers aren’t needed if there isn’t enough copper—so does that end my copper bull case for Metso
, or what do you think?