The IEA’s Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026 says an acid supply shock has tightened the copper outlook, with the effective February closure of the Strait of Hormuz and China’s May-through-year-end ban on sulfuric acid exports constraining supply. The agency says the shortfall threatens about 2.7 million tonnes of leaching-based copper output in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Chile. It adds that 2025 disruptions already removed 1.5 million tonnes of mined copper, helping lift prices above $14,000 a tonne in May 2026, and it still projects a 25% supply gap in 2035.

A leaked internal memo says Meta plans to double its AI computing capacity to 14 gigawatts by 2027, including deploying 7 gigawatts this year. The document also outlines multi-year supply agreements covering memory, flash storage and fiber-optic components. The memo frames the buildout as implying $350 billion to $700 billion in incremental capital spending and highlights roughly $1.8 trillion in off-balance-sheet purchase and lease commitments across hyperscalers. Meta shares fell 4.3% at the open after Reuters reported the memo’s contents, as investors weighed the company’s capital discipline and leverage risks.

Veteran natural resource investor Rick Rule said the artificial intelligence boom is accelerating copper demand and setting up a structural supply shortfall before 2031. He argued the project pipeline is too thin and mine approvals can take about 18 years, while major operations are aging and declining. Forecasts for 2040 point to a potential deficit of about 10 million metric tons, alongside a price rise from $3.23 per pound in 2022 to $6.20 per pound. The U.S. produces less than half of the refined copper it consumes and is expected to remain import-dependent through 2040.

Automakers including Tesla, Ferrari, BMW and several Chinese EV makers are accelerating a shift from copper to aluminum wiring as copper prices surge after a 50% U.S. tariff on copper imports in July 2025. With copper near $15,000 per metric ton versus aluminum at about $3,100, the copper-to-aluminum price ratio has moved above 4.2:1, a level Nexans says can trigger substitution. JPMorgan estimates the shift could reduce global copper demand by about 2% in 2026 and potentially 6% by 2030. Aluminum is less conductive but lighter, and suppliers say wiring-harness costs can fall by 30% to 40%.

Strategy (MSTR) opened down 8% on June 25 as put options were exercised heavily, stoking market concern it could be forced to sell part of its Bitcoin holdings. Bitcoin also saw a sharp drop to $58,000, its lowest level since September 2024. The move was linked to the looming expiry of $10 billion in Bitcoin options, reduced institutional flows and hawkish Federal Reserve signals, but it was not tied to any sudden Strategy-specific fundamental shock such as an earnings surprise or regulatory penalty. Instead, the article described it as a known risk being amplified by thin liquidity as positioning unwound.

Amazon is in talks to sell its in-house Trainium AI training chips to third-party data centers, in a move aimed at challenging Nvidia’s dominance in AI hardware. The company said Trainium3 is largely sold out and that a fourth-generation chip is expected to debut next year. The strategy could lift Amazon’s AI infrastructure revenue and strengthen differentiation for AWS, but some in the market see it as a more direct challenge to Nvidia’s 94% share of GPU sales, potentially adding industry-wide pricing pressure.