Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Copper prices tumbled in 2022 amid tighter U.S. and Chinese monetary policies and the war in Ukraine, but industry watchers say the trend is about to see a dramatic turnaround. Long-term demand from the global energy transition, for which copper is a key ingredient in everything from solar panels to electric-vehicle batteries, and an overall tightness in supply means prices have nowhere to go but up--especially if even the most optimistic scenarios for global copper production would not be able to meet demand, as some analysts are warning.

Industrial Info is tracking more than $40 billion worth of active copper-mining projects across the U.S. One analyst warned of a "huge crisis" in meeting the ever-growing ambitions of the global transition to cleaner energy sources: "There's no way we can supply the amount of copper in the next 10 years to drive the energy transition and 'carbon zero.' It's not going to happen."

Nonetheless, Industrial Info is tracking projects from Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RIO), Talon Metals Corporation (TSX:TLO), Freeport-McMoRan Incorporated (NYSE:FCX) and Nevada Copper Corporation (TSX:NCU).