Copper (COPPER) perpetual market

Copper is the essential industrial metal, an excellent conductor of electricity and heat that is wired into power grids, buildings, wiring, motors and electronics. Because demand for it tracks construction and manufacturing across the global economy, traders often call it Doctor Copper for its reputed ability to signal the health of world growth, and its price is closely watched as an economic barometer. It is priced per pound or tonne on exchanges in London, New York and Shanghai. Copper sits at the center of the energy transition, since electric vehicles, renewable power, batteries and expanding electricity grids all require far more of it than conventional alternatives, fueling forecasts of long-term structural demand. Supply comes largely from mines in Chile, Peru and elsewhere, and can be constrained by declining ore grades and the long lead times to develop new projects, a tension that shapes expectations for future prices.