U.S. Copper Production Has Fallen More Than 90% in Global Share Since 1900

The United States accounted for roughly 50% of global copper production in 1900. Today, its share has fallen to less than 5%.
U.S. copper output has also halved over the past 30 years, declining to approximately 1 million tonnes annually.
JPMorgan estimates that the U.S. could more than double its copper production capacity, but most of the additional supply is not expected to come online until after 2030.
There is another major bottleneck: domestic smelting and refining capacity. Even if mining expands significantly, the U.S. lacks the infrastructure to process all the additional copper domestically, meaning much of it would still need to be shipped overseas for processing.
Decades of underinvestment cannot be reversed overnight.