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In 2026, market intelligence experts at S&P Global published a study on the widening copper supply gap as electricity demand accelerates and requirements driven by artificial intelligence and defence spending continue to rise.

Titled, Copper in the Age of AI: Challenges of Electrification, the S&P Global report was co-sponsored by Taseko and a consortium of 15 global copper and technology companies, as a follow-up to S&P Global’s landmark 2022 study The Future of Copper report.

Designated as a critical mineral in the United States, Canada, the EU and other countries, copper faces growing supply challenges as demand continues to increase, according to S&P Global.

Key findings from Copper in the Age of AI: Challenges of Electrification study include:

• The “accelerating pace of electrification” is projected to increase copper demand to 42 million metric tons by 2040, a 50% increase from current levels.
• Primary global copper production is forecast to rise from 23 million metric tons (MMT) in 2025 to a peak of 27 MMT in 2030, before falling to 22 MMT by 2040.
• Without significant new mine production and/or expansion of existing mines, S&P Global forecasts an unprecedented copper supply deficit of 10 MMT by 2040.
• AI and data centers have introduced a new, rapidly expanding demand for copper, with data centers alone driving a rise from 5% to as much as 14% of future US electricity demand by 2030.
• Rising geopolitical tensions and electrification of military systems are driving defence spending, with a projected tripling of copper-intensive defence-driven demand by 2040.

Copper in the Age of AI: Challenges of Electrification PDF