Copper price on track for biggest rise in 15 years amid global shortage fears
Copper, the metal that underpins the fast-growing renewable energy industry, is on course for its biggest annual price rise in more than 15 years as traders react to fears of global shortages.As one of the main beneficiaries of the “electrification of everything”, copper has soared by more than 35% in value this year, spurred by US tariff uncertainty and concerns about mining disasters that could restrict supply.Analysts said copper had also joined silver and gold as a safe haven asset for investors wanting to hedge against the falling value of the dollar.Silver reached a record high on Monday, pushing the value of the Mexican mining company Fresnillo, which is listed on the London stock market, to a record high this month.The price of gold has jumped above $4,400 (£3,263) an ounce, up more than 70% since the beginning of January.
Kyle Rodda, a senior financial market analyst at the investment company Capital,com, said the rise of copper, gold and silver demonstrated “a world marked by greater scarcity and investors’ desire to get their hands on things with relatively limited supply”,The price of copper increased to more than $12,000 a tonne in December after the biggest rise since the global recovery that followed the 2008 financial crash,There was a rush to buy copper by US companies earlier this year after Donald Trump threatened to slap extra tariffs on imports of the metal,The tariffs were suspended, but the hoarding effect has limited supplies in other parts of the world and helped drive global prices higher.
Copper is often viewed as a barometer for the global economy.It plays a central role in power grids, construction and industrial machinery.China, which is the largest manufacturer of copper products, has made securing supplies a priority, adding to the rise in prices.On Christmas Day, the state-owned miner Jiangxi Copper said it had acquired all shares of the London-listed mining firm SolGold for $1.2bn, allowing it to take control of the Cascabel gold and silver mining operation run by SolGold in Ecuador.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs said earlier this month that the copper price was likely to stabilise in response to figures that showed there was more than enough of the metal in circulation to meet global demand.However, concerns have grown that short-term hoarding in the US and China, and the rising demand for copper over the next two decades will mean supply fails to keep pace, especially as countries seek to switch from oil and gas to renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar farms.However, several mines have recently been forced to shut down after accidents.The US miner Freeport-McMoRan said in September it would be unable to fulfil contracts to customers after a fatal mudslide at its sprawling Grasberg copper and gold mine in Indonesia.
From Central Cee to Adolescence: in 2025 British culture had a global moment – but can it last?
Despite funding cuts and shuttered venues, homegrown music, TV, film and, yes, memes have dominated the global zeitgeist over the past 12 years. Now this culture must be future-proofed from the forces of globalisationOn the face of it, British culture looks doomed. Our music industry is now borderline untenable, with grassroots venues shuttering at speed (125 in 2023 alone) and artists unable to afford to play the few that are left; touring has become a loss leader that even established acts must subsidise with other work. Meanwhile, streaming has gutted the value of recorded music, leading to industry contraction at the highest level: earlier this year the UK divisions of Warners and Atlantic – two of our biggest record labels – were effectively subsumed into the US business.In comedy, the Edinburgh fringe – the crucible of modern British standup, sketch and sitcom – is in existential crisis thanks to a dearth of sponsorship and prohibitively high costs for performers
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There is a sense of deep knowing and calm to Not Offended, the lone song released this year by the Danish-Montenegrin musician (also an earlier graduate of the Copenhagen music school currently producing every interesting alternative pop star). To warmly droning organ that hangs like the last streak of sunlight above a darkening horizon, Milovic assures someone that they haven’t offended her – but her steady Teutonic tenderness, reminiscent of Molly Nilsson or Sophia Kennedy, suggests that their actions weren’t provocative so much as evasive. Strings flutter tentatively as she addresses this person who can’t look life in the eye right now. “I see you clearly,” Milovic sings, as the drums kick in and the strings become full-blooded: a reminder of the ease that letting go can offer. Laura SnapesIn a year that saw the troubling rise of AI-generated slop music, there is something endlessly comforting about a song that can only have been written by a messy, complicated human
The Guide #223: From surprise TV hits to year-defining records – what floated your boats this year
Merry Christmas – and welcome to the last Guide of 2025! After sharing our favourite culture of the year in last week’s edition, we now turn this newsletter over to you, our readers, so you can reveal your own cultural highlights of 2025, including some big series we missed, and some great new musical tips. Enjoy the rest of the holidays and we’ll see you this time next week for the first Guide of 2026!“Get Millie Black (Channel 4), in which Tamara Lawrance gives a powerhouse performance as a loose-cannon detective investigating a case in Jamaica. The settings are a tonic in these dreary months, and the theme song (Ring the Alarm by Shanique Marie) is a belter. But be warned: the content of the final, London-set episode goes to some dark places.” – Richard Hamilton“How good was Dying For Sex! This drama about a terminally ill woman embarking on an erotic odyssey was so funny and sad and true and daring
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Jewish klezmer-dance band Oi Va Voi: ‘Musicians shouldn’t have to keep looking over their shoulders’
After 20 years playing around the world, the group had two UK gigs cancelled this year after protests from activists. It’s made them feel targeted for who they are, the band sayJosh Breslaw was looking forward to a homecoming gig with his band of two decades’ standing. Oi Va Voi, a predominantly Jewish collective mixing traditional eastern European folk tunes with drum’n’bass and dance, were due to conclude a spring tour of Turkey with a gig in May at Bristol’s Strange Brew club, plus one in Brighton where Breslaw lives. But then, after protests from local activists about both the band’s past performances in Israel, and with Israeli singer Zohara, Strange Brew abruptly cancelled, citing “the ongoing situation in Gaza”.To be told they hadn’t met the venue’s “ethical standards” was devastating, says Breslaw, the band’s 52-year-old drummer: “It felt so unjust
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