Ryan Stancil,
Editor
Jan. 20, 2025
Commodity Callout
You might be hearing a lot about copper in the coming weeks. 2024 saw it break a losing streak as far as its value goes, and it’s already started this year off strong. The red metal is essential to powering the global shift to renewable energy, making it essential to every developed nation. This is all happening just as supplies are drying up, meaning that countries are having to pay a premium to get their hands on whatever is left. Things could be further complicated by a possible trade war between the US and China and stimulus from China that will encourage more domestic consumption. Electric vehicles and increasing demand for AI data centers continue to be two other strong arguments for copper’s climbing value. Add to that, there are talks of mining giants Rio Tinto and Glencore on a potential merger. Those talks are said to be centered around copper.
Metal Price Update
Gold — Reigniting inflation caused gold to rally, closing the week above $2700 per ounce. Concerns about a looming trade war are another catalyst giving life to the price of gold, and this recent price action could just be a small taste of things to come.
Silver — Silver moved up in tandem with gold, as it often does. It ended the week just above $30 per ounce and has more upward potential ahead of it for the same reasons as gold.
Copper — As discussed in the opening, the price of copper had a very good week, ending strong at $4.33 per pound. Geopolitical winds will continue to push this one to do well for investors.
Lithium Carbonate — This could be the beginning of a period of price recovery for lithium, as it ended the week at $10,622.17 per metric ton, up from just over $10,300 at the start of the week. The turnaround could be attributed to a slowly unfolding reduction of the market surplus that caused prices to plunge over the last two years.
Uranium — Uranium has been ticking up and could be on the way to $75 per pound. Trump’s treasury secretary spoke about nuclear power at his confirmation hearings and how he was in favor due to America’s energy arms race with China.
Company Callout
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Keep your eyes open,
Ryan Stancil
Editor, Resource Stock Digest