Reasons behind the rising price of copper:

 Rising price of copper is evidence of recoveries in other major industrial economies,

with manufacturing output surging in places like the U.S., Germany and Japan.
 The demand for copper has been on the rise and is expected to go further up with
top copper consumer China getting back to business after a long holiday and
optimism of a stronger global economic recovery in view of COVID-19 vaccine
rollouts.
 President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, which still needs to pass through Congress,
could increase copper and steel demand as the economy reopens.( MarketWatch
reported). Expected U.S. growth this year means China is no longer the world’s sole
source of strong demand for copper hence “China isn’t the only game in town
anymore when it comes to global growth.”
 China has been buying voraciously as its economy bounced back from the early
spring 2020 lockdown.
 Investors have been piling into copper on a bet that global efforts to cut carbon
emissions are going to mean the world needs a lot more of the metal, putting a strain
on supply. Automakers’ announcements of impending ends to the internal combustion
engine and a total switch to electric has fuelled projections of soaring demand of copper.
 Electric vehicles contain about four times as much copper as a conventional car, and
vast amounts of copper wiring will be needed in roadside chargers to keep them
running. Bringing electricity from offshore wind farms to national power grids is also
a copper-intensive exercise. Hence the increase in the price copper is due to the
increasing demand and tight supply of copper.
 Copper prices rose on Monday as a softer dollar spurred modest purchases, but gains
were capped by concerns over price curbs on industrial metals in top consumer China.
 lower U.S. currency makes dollar-denominated metals cheaper for holders of other
currencies, which could potentially boost demand.
 New copper mine production may be slow to arrive, as mines are hard to find and
expensive to develop. 
 While soaring prices indicate rising demand, it may be due to tightening
supplies. result of disruption in mining operations, courtesy of the COVID-19
pandemic.
 copper had dipped by 24.4 percent to 231.7 thousand tonnes during April-
December last year compared to the corresponding period in 2020 due to
COVID-induced lockdown. The overall production of domestic refined copper
plummeted by 39.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of FY2021.
 The world risks “running out of copper” amid growing demand for the metal, paving
the way for a spike in prices just as the global economic reopening gets under way,
according to commodity strategists at Bank of America.
 Inventories, measured in metric tons, now stand at levels seen 15 years ago, “implying
that stocks cover just 3.3 weeks of demand,” the strategists said in a BofA Global
Research note dated April 30. The bank’s strategists said prices could jump to
$13,000 a metric ton (or $5.89 a pound) in the coming months and are forecasting
copper market deficits amid further drops in inventory this year and in 2022.
 “The fundamental backdrop is so concerning because the global economy is just now
starting to open up and reflate,” they said. “If scrap supply doesn’t come through,
stocks would deplete by 2024.”
 “Copper is needed everywhere. It conducts electricity.” & “Everyone is running very
fast toward an EV future,”
  The BofA strategists said copper faces “even more violent price swings” should scrap
metal usage by refiners and smelters fail to increase as predicted and inventories
deplete in the next three years. Under that scenario, the “red metal” could soar above
$20,000 a metric ton, or $9.07 a pound, according to their note.
 Concerns over low copper inventories will lead to an increase in capital expenditure
in mining. “We need to invest more into supply.” 
 lack of new mine investment over the last few years leaves the supply landscape short
of new projects to meet projected demand. Global investment in mineral resources
“has been seriously inadequate in the past five years,”.
 Copper prices will surge to an all-time high over the next 12 months as a result of
strong demand from China’s clean energy drive and years of under-investment in
global mine supply.

Reference (news):
 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/commodities/news/copper-just-
smashed-past-a-record-heres-what-you-need-to-know/articleshow/82479749.cms?
from=mdr
 https://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals/metals-copper-up-but-potential-
chinese-price-curbs-weigh-idUSL2N2NB0CU
 https://www.cnbctv18.com/uncategorized/explained-why-copper-prices-are-going-
through-the-roof-8422901.htm. 
 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-world-risks-running-out-of-copper-and-
heres-how-high-prices-may-rise-as-the-economy-reopens-bofa-warns-11620073503
 https://agmetalminer.com/2021/02/22/copper-price-rises-as-the-metals-bull-story-
continues/
 https://www.mining.com/copper-price-rises-on-demand-hopes/