The Dragon’s Appetite

Western media focuses on China’s property crisis (which is real and drags on copper demand). But they ignore State Grid.

The New Stimulus

Instead of building ghost cities, Beijing is now pouring trillions of RMB into the Ultra-High Voltage (UHV) grid.

• The Mission: Transport renewable energy from the windy/sunny Gobi desert in the West to the factory cities in the East.
• The Metal: UHV lines require massive amounts of copper and aluminum.

2026 Outlook

State Grid Corporation of China has increased its budget again this year. As long as this spending continues, the absolute floor for copper demand remains high. Even if Chinese housing collapses, the grid buildout offsets a significant portion of that lost demand.