ROBERT FRIEDLAND WARNS COPPER SUPPLY CAN'T KEEP UP WITH AI, EVS, AND REINDUSTRIALIZATION

Summary from the TLDR Hardware newsletter

Ivanhoe Mines founder Robert Friedland, on Bloomberg's Odd Lots podcast, argued the world isn't close to having enough copper for what's coming, with copper up 15% this year as demand from data centers, electric vehicles, and global reindustrialization compounds on top of the metal's already-tight supply. He framed US tariffs as a potential fix rather than just a cost, arguing that if a 30% tariff pushed copper from $6 to $7.80 a pound, domestic mining could again afford unionized US labor, pointing out that 10% of all copper ever mined came from Arizona before manufacturing and refining capacity was largely outsourced to China.