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Copper is the third most consumed metal in the world. It is also known as a highly conductive material. The properties of copper include good electrical conductivity, excellent thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance, high ductility, recyclability, and non-magnetic properties. The copper market is segmented by end consumer industries (automotive and heavy equipment, construction, electrical and electronics, industrial and other end consumer industries). Recently, the development of electric vehicles has increased the demand for copper. The leaves, stator, rotor, shaft end, hollow wire and motor used in electric vehicles are composed of heavy copper. Major copper producing countries include Chile, Peru and China. Chile produces more than a quarter of the world's copper, and is by far the country with the largest copper reserves. Escondida, located in the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile and owned by mining company BHP, is the largest copper mine in the world by total copper reserves, production capacity and actual copper output.

Friday saw a rise in copper futures to about $4.4 per pound, marking the second straight session of gains on expectations that China, the world's largest buyer, would reveal further stimulus measures during a press conference organized by the finance ministry this Saturday. The financial markets are forecasting that the finance minister would unveil a significant fiscal stimulus plan, estimated to be worth two to three trillion yuan. A swap facility worth 500 billion yuan was made available earlier this week to financial institutions, such as insurers, fund companies, and brokerage firms, for the purpose of buying stocks. After a series of troubling data threatened Beijing's 5% GDP growth target, Beijing previously announced a comprehensive monetary stimulus package. However, the absence of additional measures announced in an extraordinary briefing by the economic planning agency made markets doubtful that such support would result in an increase in demand for industrial inputs like copper.

Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate the global market as China's construction and power generation sectors are well-developed and continue to invest in the region to achieve advancements in the telecommunications sector. and electronics over the years. The copper market is partially consolidated, with a few large players dominating the majority of the market. Some of the major players (in no particular order) include Glencore, BHP, Codelco, Aurubis AG, and KGHM.