GREEN CAPITALI$M
Copper flirts with all-time highs, topping $10,000 for the first time in over a decade as the economic rebound pushes metals higher

egraffeo@businessinsider.com (Emily Graffeo) 

© Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images Europe A worker inspects batches of processed copper at Mutanda Mining Sarl, Democratic Republic of the Congo Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images Europe

Copper prices briefly topped $10,000 Thursday, hitting the highest point in over a decade.

The global economic rebound out of the pandemic is sending copper prices soaring.
The metal has also seen a surge in demand as it becomes critical component to a green energy future.

Copper rallied above $10,000 a metric ton for the first time in over a decade as supply constraints and a surge in demand triggered a rally in the soft metal.

Prices rose as much as 1.3% to $10,008 a ton on the London Metal Exchange Thursday before paring back gains. Copper's all-time high was in February 2011 at $10,190, per Bloomberg.

Copper has rallied nearly 90% over the last twelve months as the global economic rebound and new green energy initiatives spark demand.

Copper is used in the production of electric vehicles, which require close to 200 pounds of metal in a single vehicle. On the other hand, gas-powered vehicles only require about 20-50 pounds of copper.

Goldman Sachs says copper is a "critical raw material for green infrastructure" and sees no sign of copper prices coming down any time soon. In a note Wednesday the firm upgraded its 12-month price target for copper to $11,000 per ton, a jump of over 10% from current levels.

"If the green capital expenditure is at the center of the commodity supercycle, they said copper is at the center of this trend," Goldman said.