Gain valuable insights into the copper market outlook 2026, including key trends and challenges facing mines and smelters next year.

Fastmarkets invited feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for its International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)-audited non-ferrous metals, via an open consultation process between October 13 and November 12, 2025. This consultation was done as part of our published annual methodology review process.

Explore how Latin America & Argentina are emerging as key players in critical minerals with a focus on copper and lithium mining investments.

Vedanta Resources’ Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) in Zambia is set for a major revival, after years of under-investment and political uncertainty. The move is being driven by a convergence of capital, government support and shifting geopolitics, according to a senior executive at CopperTech Metals.

Explore the evolving market for base metals as nickel faces competition from lithium iron phosphate alternatives.

As global smelting margins weaken, a quiet revival is taking shape in the United States as new copper smelting and refining projects gather momentum. Policy shifts, strategic incentives and the push for industrial resilience are driving investment that could close America’s long-standing processing gap and reshape its role in the global copper market.

Explore how China’s 15th Five-Year Plan drives base metals demand in advanced manufacturing and renewable energy.

ACG Metals expects to begin to produce copper and zinc concentrates in mid-2026, marking a shift from gold toward base metals, as part of its plan to build a mid-tier copper company, according to its founder, chairman and chief executive officer.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and its southern neighbor Zambia are betting on winning more benefits from their copper endowment by directly trading the metal themselves while output and demand for copper surge,

Freeport’s 2026 copper concentrate contracts introduce a higher floor-cap pricing structure that redefines industry benchmarks. The negotiations highlight broader shifts in global copper supply, smelting economics and pricing frameworks.