Market participants active in the aluminium and copper scrap and primary aluminium markets reported continued bearish markets with relief not expected in the near term during conversations at the Recycled Materials Association Roundtables in Chicago from September 10-12.

Copper demand in data centers is accelerating as artificial intelligence drives higher power needs, advanced cooling systems and greater infrastructure requirements. This trend highlights both the opportunities and challenges around sustainability, domestic production and global supply chains.

Aurubis has secured long-term access to 75,000 tonnes per year of copper-gold concentrate from Troilus Gold’s Quebec project starting as early as 2028, as the German smelter responds to what it describes as an “increasingly constrained” market for clean copper concentrate.

Tristan Pascall, chief executive officer of Vancouver-based First Quantum Minerals, gave an exclusive interview with Fastmarkets on Friday August 29, in which he explains why Africa is the best place to build large copper mines, and gave his opinion of the outlook for the nickel, gold and copper sectors.

Cost and availability concerns around copper have accelerated aluminium substitution in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, with aluminium now used in an estimated 40% of global units, Lionel Chapis, Norsk Hydro’s senior vice president of Hydro Precision Tubing, told Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview on Tuesday August 26.

The US is launching its first Strategic Minerals Reserve at Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada, designed as a platform for storage, refining and recycling to strengthen supply chain security.