Due to the heavy acquisition of mining giant Anglo-American Resources Group by BHP Billiton Group, the world's largest mining company, copper prices have once again advanced to five digits. This has provided support for bullish players. More and more people speculate that global copper mines will be difficult to meet the upcoming wave of green industry demand.

London Metal Exchange (LME) copper once rose more than 1%. Earlier, it hit 10033.5 US dollars per ton, a new high since April 2022. The price of copper has increased by more than 17% so far this year.

According to the news, Rio Tinto, the world's largest mining company, is proposing to buy Anglo-American Resources Group for 39 billion US dollars. The main target is its smaller competitor's South American copper mine. However, according to market sources, Anglo-American Resources Group rejected BHP Billiton Group's takeover proposal.

The size and timing of this acquisition clearly shows that resource giants are trying to force their way into the commodity market, which is critical to the green industry. Also, many miners prefer to buy out competitors rather than launch new projects.

Yongcheng Zhao, chief copper analyst at Benchmark Minerals Intelligence, wrote in an email, “The lack of newly mined copper resources is a major obstacle to the energy transition, and mining companies are facing increasing resistance to build new mines, forcing them to achieve growth through mergers.”

Due to optimism about the recovery of global manufacturing, copper prices soared in April despite signs of weakness in the spot market. Investors pushed bullish bets to record levels, while sales from commercial entities soared sharply.

Recent supply challenges and improved global usage prospects have emboldened companies that are optimistic about copper, such as BlackRock and Tork Group. They say copper prices will have to rise further to stimulate the construction of new mines.

Electric vehicles, renewable energy, and massively expanded power grids will require millions of tons of new supplies over the next few years, as major mines become harder to find and more expensive to build or expand.

Goldman Sachs reiterated the forecast that copper prices will hit a record high of 12,000 US dollars in the next 12 months. BlackRock fund manager Olivia Markham also said in an interview on Wednesday that copper prices need to reach 12,000 US dollars per ton in order to stimulate large-scale investment in new mines and avoid future deficits.