Copper is one of the oldest metals ever used by man. But many investors tend not to focus on the red-gold metal. Copper is the metal with the highest consumption, and only the consumption of iron and aluminum is higher. In addition, copper has other properties that make it interesting for many industries and explain the high copper demand.
One of the most sought after raw materials
Copper has some properties that make it interesting for many industries. The reddish shimmering metal is relatively soft and therefore easy to shape. At the same time, copper is quite tough. Copper has always been one of the metals of coinage. But its outstanding conductivity makes it a perfect conductor of heat and electricity, and thus an important industrial metal. Copper is indispensable, especially in the electrical industry, but also for the production of tubes and many precision parts.
The comparatively high copper deposits, together with its special properties, make it one of the most sought-after raw materials in the world.
Copper on the commodity exchange
In recent years, the copper price has proven to be quite stable. Only the onset of the global economic crisis in 2007 and 2008 caused an extreme drop in share prices. Of course, the Corona crisis did not leave the price of the industrial metal completely unscathed, but the copper price suffered only a small slump last year and has been slowly but steadily climbing again since then.
The industrial metal can be bought and traded on the London Metal Exchange, the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
Invest in copper
Only institutional investors can buy copper as bars or coils directly on the commodity exchanges. Private investors therefore invest in copper through shares or buy physical copper in the form of copper derivatives.
Copper stocks come from a variety of companies, all of which are involved in the mining, trading or refining of copper as their primary business.
Shares from the copper processing sector in particular are of interest to many private investors. Manufacturers of cables and wires, as well as the automotive industry and its suppliers, are heavily dependent on copper and offer investors ample investment opportunities.
The raw material copper is also of great importance in the forward-looking industries of electronics and battery production. Since there is no real alternative to copper for all these manufacturers, copper recycling is becoming increasingly important. Here, too, investors are offered good profit opportunities.
Shares in mining companies offer another alternative. Anglo American, for example, is one of the world’s largest mine operators. The company, headquartered in London, mines copper and many other raw materials such as platinum and diamonds.
Investment in copper derivatives, on the other hand, is possible in the form of copper ETFs, copper CFDs, certificates or futures.
