The copper price has reached a new all-time high in London trading, surpassing US$13,000 per tonne, as demand for the metal, which is crucial for electrification, remains strong.
There are some key Australian-listed stocks that provide good exposure to copper, but more on that later.
Firstly, why is demand for copper so strong, and what's the outlook for this year?
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Outages and demand bolstering price
MineLife director Gavin Wendt recently issued a research note on copper and said the rally in the copper price over 2025 reflected mine supply disruptions and distortions of trade flows caused by President Trump's tariff policies.
In terms of the disruptions, an incident at Freeport McMoran's Grasberg mine in Indonesia, which was producing about 4% of global supply, would continue to have an impact this year.
As Mr Wendt said:
Grasberg is the world's second-largest copper mine, contributing around 4% of global production. Two minor mining areas recovered production as planned in November, while the main area, which is responsible for 70% of output, is expected to slowly resume operations next year. A full recovery is expected in 2027. The disruption at Grasberg has added to the already high number of supply disruptions this year, including the flooding of the Kamoa-Kakula mine in the Democratic Repunlic of Congo in May and an accident hitting the El Teniente mine in Chile in July.
Mr Wendt said the copper supply chain was "under strain", with mines in Chile struggling with falling ore grades, and refined metal flows being disrupted by tariff risks and unusually high US stockpiles.
He said:
The refined copper balance for 2026 is now showing a deficit of around 600,000 tonnes for 2026, following a deficit of 200,000 tonnes in 2025.
Stocks in focus
In terms of Australian-listed companies set to benefit, Wilsons Advisory issued a research note in early December, naming Sandfire Resources Ltd (ASX: SFR) as its preferred pick in the sector.
The Wilsons teams said:
As the only pureplay ASX 100 copper producer, Sandfire has a best-in-class track record of operational delivery, which continues to underpin reliable leverage to the copper price.
Sandfire shares hit a new record high of $18.45 on Monday and have more than doubled from 12-month lows of $8.05.
Australian mining giant BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP) is also highly leveraged to copper, with its three South Australian mines and its major Escondida mine in Chile contributing to the company's production of more than two million tonnes of copper for the first time in FY25. BHP has boosted copper production by 28% since 2022, according to the company's annual report.
Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) is also highly leveraged to copper, having recently upgraded its copper production guidance to 860,000-875,000 tonnes for 2025, up from its previous guidance of 780,000-850,000 tonnes.
Wilsons also said in early December that outside of the majors, copper exposure could be had from the $14.5 billion Capstone Copper Corp (ASX: CSC), while at the junior end, South Australian miner Hillgrove Resources Ltd (ASX: HGO) was a pure-play copper company.
