Copper Hits $6.74/lb as AI Datacenters and Teck Resources Surge 5.4%

Copper rose to $6.7410 per pound on Tuesday, a gain of 0.63% on the session, translating to approximately $9.61 CAD per pound at the prevailing USD/CAD exchange rate of 1.4262. The move extended a broader rally that has seen the red metal outperform aluminum and nickel, both of which slipped on the day — Alcoa fell 1.26% and Vale dropped 0.73%. Copper’s resilience stands in sharp contrast, underscoring a structural demand story that few other base metals can match right now.

Teck Resources Leads the TSX Higher

The clearest Canadian beneficiary of copper’s strength was Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.B), which surged 5.43% to $97.10 on Tuesday — one of the largest single-session gains for the Vancouver-based miner in 2026. Teck’s QB2 copper mine in northern Chile, which reached full nameplate capacity earlier this year, is producing roughly 285,000 tonnes of copper annually and has positioned the company as Canada’s premier pure-play copper producer. At $6.74/lb copper, QB2’s economics are significantly above its reported all-in sustaining cost of approximately $1.95/lb, generating substantial free cash flow that analysts expect Teck to direct toward shareholder returns and its QB2 expansion study.

AI Datacenters Are Rewiring Copper Demand

The most powerful new demand driver in the copper market is one that barely registered five years ago: artificial intelligence infrastructure. A single hyperscale AI datacenter campus — the kind being constructed at pace across the United States, Canada, and the Middle East — requires between 25 and 40 tonnes of copper per megawatt of capacity for busbars, cooling systems, power distribution, and cabling. With global datacenter capacity additions projected to exceed 100 gigawatts over the next three years, the implied copper demand from this segment alone could absorb 2.5 to 4 million additional tonnes annually by 2028. Wood Mackenzie estimates AI-related copper demand will account for roughly 6% of total global consumption by 2030, up from less than 1% in 2023.

Peru Supply Disruptions Keep the Market Tight

On the supply side, ongoing community blockades at two mid-tier Peruvian copper operations have removed an estimated 35,000 tonnes of refined copper equivalent from Q3 and Q4 2026 production schedules, according to industry estimates. Peru is the world’s second-largest copper producer, and its mines have faced recurring social licence challenges that create persistent supply volatility. Separately, average copper ore grades at Chile’s aging porphyry deposits have declined to approximately 0.67% Cu, versus 0.80% a decade ago, meaning producers must move significantly more rock to deliver the same refined output — a structural cost and supply headwind.

Green Grid Buildout Adds a Second Demand Layer

Beyond AI, the electrification of North America’s power grid is providing a durable second pillar of copper demand. Canada’s federal grid modernization commitments, including interprovincial transmission corridors connecting Alberta wind resources to Ontario industrial demand centres, are estimated to require over 180,000 tonnes of copper conductor and transformer windings through 2030. Electric vehicle motors each consume 3–4 times the copper of a conventional combustion drivetrain. With Canadian EV adoption accelerating and battery gigafactories under construction in Ontario and Quebec, domestic copper offtake is tightening at exactly the moment global mine supply growth is stalling.