Industrial demand heavy on metals

This ranges from uranium fuel for carbon-free nuclear power, rare earths that are essential to many technological applications and the copper that allows for the transmission of electricity and more.  

 

While the decarbonization theme has recently been deemphasized by some governments, the trend toward less carbon-intensive forms of energy generation, transportation and production nevertheless continues. Corporate interest is driving much of this, especially from those companies involved in building data centers and procuring power.

 

Decarbonization equates to an increase in metals intensity — not just for copper, but also aluminum, uranium and others. Annual U.S. copper demand, for example, declined modestly, on average, over the last 15 years. But in 2026, our commodity strategists expect demand growth of nearly 2%.   

 

The energy needed to support the build-out of AI data centers is immense and requires enormous investment in new electricity generation. The desire for this energy to be carbon-free means significant investment in solar, wind and, in particular, nuclear energy, which has the added benefit of requiring neither wind nor sunshine to operate. It also has a fairly low marginal cost of generation. These forms of power generation are more metals intensive vs. traditional hydrocarbon-based technologies (which themselves also require metals). 

 

National security as it pertains to energy availability and reliability means an increased focus on critical minerals self-reliance and significant new government investment into critical minerals productive capacity. It also means the re-emergence of government-driven demand for metals.  

 

Looking across our coverage universe, our general preference is for those equities producing copper, uranium and silver as those are the metals on which we’re most reliant for construction.