Copper Goes Ballistic As A Shortage Meets An Outage
Key takeaways
- Biggest winners so far from the copper boom are the major producers led by BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, but closely follow by second ranking Rio Tinto.
- BHP has risen by 25% on the Australian stock exchange over the last six weeks, hitting an all-time high earlier today of A$60.23 ($43.36).
- Rio Tinto also hit an all-time high of A$185.50 earlier today.
Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Tim Treadgold is an Australian journalist specializing in mining Follow Author May 11, 2026, 10:13pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Copper tubing at a factory in Chongqing, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)VCG via Getty Images Copper is trading at an all-time high of $6.44 a pound and could go a lot higher as the effects of a supply squeeze and the Iran war are supercharged by stockpiling and mine closures.
Biggest winners so far from the copper boom are the major producers led by BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, but closely follow by second ranking Rio Tinto. Both companies along with Anglo American and Glencore have big copper operations.
BHP has risen by 25% on the Australian stock exchange over the last six weeks, hitting an all-time high earlier today of A$60.23 ($43.36). The stock has risen by 56% over the last 12 months.