Jun. 26 at 3:29 PM
$QQQ The U.S. says China is rapidly expanding its nuclear, conventional, cyber and space capabilities. UNCTAD says China imports roughly 60% of the world’s copper ore. At what point does copper stop being just a commodity and become a security issue? I am not saying every tonne imported by China is going into weapons. Obviously it is not.
China also needs copper for grids, factories, vehicles, electronics and construction. But modern military power depends on many of the same things: electricity, ships, communications, radar, data centers and advanced manufacturing. That is why I struggle to understand why North America still treats copper concentrate like an ordinary export. China has been very smart about this. It buys raw material, expands refining capacity and increases its control over the middle of the supply chain.
Canada and the U.S. should be thinking several moves ahead too. More Canadian mining. More North American processing. More long-term supply agreements between allies.
Waiting until a major conflict exposes the dependency would be the expensive way to learn the lesson. Is copper still mainly a trade issue, or has it already become national-security policy?
$TECK $FCX $SPY
https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/article/4150802/chinas-military-buildup-threatens-indo-pacific-region-security/
