Gordian’s RSMeans Data is North America’s most comprehensive and most trusted construction cost database. Containing upwards of 92,000 construction material, labor and equipment costs, RSMeans Data is prized by architects, engineers and contractors for accurate and current prices.
Regular, comprehensive updates to the database make it a reliable resource for construction professionals. They also empower Gordian’s internal team of data analysts and cost engineers to track long-term price trends, providing industry executives and leaders with insights they can use to weather cost volatility, stay ahead of the curve and make more informed business decisions.
In this blog post, we’ll use RSMeans Data to provide a quarterly analysis of the price of copper, one of the construction industry’s most vital materials.
DISCLAIMER: The prices referenced below represent the national average and are used for reference purposes only. Costs in your local market may differ.
Tracking the Price of Copper With RSMeans Data
October 2024
Following a small increase in Q3, copper wire prices climb by more than 6% heading into Q4. Additional price increases are expected in the coming months.
July 2024
The price of copper wire increases slightly going into Q3, and it is a near certainty it will continue to climb as copper demand is predicted to rise due to their common use in green energy initiatives.
Gordian continues to examine the impact of emergent technologies on copper costs. The rise in production of electric vehicles, alongside the recent surge in data center construction plans to support AI expansion in the U.S., may strain international supplies. Q2 of 2024 saw U.S. copper prices hit a 20-year high and prices may escalate further if supply continues to lag behind demand.
April 2024
Copper prices remain stable as we enter the spring, due to a mismatch between global supply and demand last year. There simply hasn’t been a huge run on copper. We are, however, expecting one later this year. The supply chain is showing signs of strain due to pauses in South American mining operations. Plus, scores of countries around the globe are pursuing green energy initiatives that use copper as a conductor. Given that it’s on the brink of becoming a hot commodity, copper costs could shoot up as soon as next quarter.
The price of conduit has been relatively stable since its early 2023 peak of $175/hundred linear feet (CLF). EMT price trends are aligned with those of aluminum. Both materials experienced cost spikes in 2021 and 2022 before coming back down to Earth in 2023 due in part to surpluses caused by production in China and Russia.
January 2024
Copper wire costs enjoy continued consistency as the calendar flips to 2024. That consistency is now in jeopardy. Operations have ceased at mines in Panama and Peru, as Panama’s top court has ruled the mining contract unconstitutional and the union representing a major of the Peruvian miners is on strike, according to Reuters. It is unknown if these pauses will be permanent or temporary.
November 2023
Despite a sustained, albeit unremarkable, increase in 2023, copper price is expected to dip in 2024. This likely drop is attributed to decreasing international demand and simultaneous supply increases as a result of new mine production in Africa and South America.
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July 2023
The price of copper and copper wire reach an equilibrium, defying early-year market conditions that suggested a period of volatility was on the horizon.
January 2023
The price of copper wire rises by almost 24% in 2022, and the majority of that increase arrived in the second half of the year. This cost surge is the result of labor wage hikes, increasing transportation costs and greater interest in alternative energy techniques that incorporate copper. Copper price volatility is likely to continue throughout 2023.
January 2022
The costs of copper pipe and copper wire each increase, albeit in starkly different ways, with the average cost of copper wire rising 23% and the cost of copper pipe skyrocketing by 76%. Green technologies, including electric vehicles, drive these incredible surges, accelerating demand to such a degree that copper prices explode in every sector of the economy.
September 2021
After spiking in 2019, copper wire costs stabilize until 2021 when they jump upwards of 14%. By the third quarter of the year, copper wire costs soar to 67% higher than they were at the same time in 2020. Multiple factors contribute to this volatility, including tariffs, the COVID-19 pandemic, increased transportation and labor costs, and the typical fluctuations of supply and demand.
