Copper & critical minerals

Strong demand for data centres and AI servers supported suppliers of semiconductor equipment, optical components, printed circuit boards, copper-clad laminates and other advanced electronic materials.

Aurubis processes copper ore and scrap (also from the electronics indus- try) around the world.

The company is a leading manufacturer of premium copper-clad laminates, which are used in AI servers, switches and data centre infrastructure.

One such site in South Carolina was chosen by USA Rare Earth for a $1.2bn plant making rare-earth permanent magnets.

Copper holdings Freeport McMoRan, Teck Resources and Grupo Mexico each reached new all-time highs during the quarter, buoyed by the ongoing strength in the copper price.

A Capital Markets Day added targets of more than 500,000 tonnes of copper and 550,000 ounces of gold annually.

Portfolio Activity During the quarter, we initiated new GardenSM positions in Virtu Financial, Murphy USA and USA Rare Earth.

Our original investment case was centered on the company’s copper exposure, which we view as attractive given structural demand from electrification, grid investment and data centers.

Metso (+11.6%), a minerals-processing equipment supplier geared to copper and gold, posted strong gains driven by a surge in copper, mine-supply disruptions, recovering Chinese demand, and the structural pull from electrification and AI data- centre buildout.

Shares rose during the quarter after selling off in the prior period amid concerns that copper interconnect products, where Amphenol maintains a strong competitive position, could eventually be displaced by optical interconnects, where its market position is less established today.

The stock continues to be volatile, driven by changing investor perceptions regarding the extent to which copper will continue to play a role in future generations of AI chips.

Primarily a copper and gold producer with operations in Peru and Canada, we believed the organic growth profile for HBM coupled with the development and de-risking of the company’s Copper World asset in Arizona provided a number of catalysts.

Entering Q2 of 2026, investors fretted that AI data center connectivity would transition from copper- based interconnects to optical solutions over the intermediate term, creating a potential headwind for Amphenol.

Whether that’s electricity in quantities that strain grids built for a different century, copper and steel, gas turbines, cooling water, transformers, or transmission lines that take a decade to permit and build, they all are in high demand.

ADI should also benefit from the transition from 800G to 1.6T optical connectivity and, eventually, from the movement of scale up networking from copper to optical.

Company: Lumentum Sector: Industrials Company Size: $67bn Powering the future of AI infrastructure with critical optical connectivity As AI clusters scale to unprecedented sizes, traditional copper interconnects are hitting physical limitations.

Top-performing currencies were largely driven by idiosyncratic tailwinds: the Egyptian pound was bolstered by reserve accumulation and IMF support for the country’s flexible exchange rate policy; Peter Magyar’s victory over Viktor Orban imbued optimism for the Hungarian forint; and the Zambian kwacha was supported by strong copper prices and a bumper maize harvest.

Precision Wires India Limited is the largest manufacturer of enameled copper winding wire in India, with approximately 30% market share.

For years, the company employed an aggressive acquisition strategy to roll up the legacy cable and copper wire industry in an effort to become the leading end-to-end provider of wired and wireless communications.

Similar forces are supporting demand for metals, critical minerals and uranium, while gold and silver continue to benefit from a cycle we believe has further to run.

In addition, our overweight positioning together with adverse stock selection in the Materials sector, primarily attributable to a few holdings in our sustainability/ESG ( Lundin Mining Corporation and AMG Critical Materials N.V. ) and global security ( Agnico Eagle Mines Limited and Lynas Rare Earths Limited ) themes, was also a drag on relative results.

We also added a new position in Anglo American to gain exposure to copper given its role in long-term secular themes such as electrification.

The looming shift in the supply/demand imbalance of the past decade—from an oversupply condition— runs across global hard commodities: oil and ultimately natural gas, iron ore, copper, and other electrification metals like cobalt and lithium.

Materials followed close behind, buoyed by strong commodity prices across copper, gold, and a recovering lithium market.

The results of this pivot have begun to emerge, with China now arguably the global leader in solar, wind, batteries, nuclear, high-speed rail, steel, shipbuilding and rare earths processing.

Credo Technologies was down over 50% from its ATH by the end of March on the narrative that “Copper is dead” in data centers.

Over the past year, much of the discussion in global markets has centred on shortages and bottlenecks across memory semiconductors, critical minerals, power, and defence.

The share price had been rallying since April, which we believe reflects a broader narrative re-rating by investors encouraged by the Company’s increasing optical product traction along with confidence in the duration of the opportunity that the Company’s current portfolio of copper product addresses.

Elite Material, a provider of copper-clad materials used in circuit boards, has transitioned from a cyclical electronics materials supplier into a structural enabler of AI infrastructure with a competitive advantage in technology and manufacturing consistency.

Base Metals and Copper Among the base metals, aluminum was by far the commodity most directly affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

By de-risking critical minerals and energy extraction, the state is creating a new sovereignty premium for infrastructure assets in the region.

Copper miner Capstone Copper contributed negatively, as did U.K. companies Close Brothers and easyJet.

Electrification also means increased demand for copper, a key element in power transmission and other electrical applications.