The value comparison between gold and copper: Who can break through the ceiling height?

Many people struggle with the long-term investment value of gold and copper. The core differences can actually be understood through two dimensions—supply constraint capability and market consensus foundation. These two factors directly determine their respective ceiling heights.

Why Gold Maintains a Premium: Millennia-Old Consensus + Rigid Supply Double Insurance

Gold’s uniqueness lies in possessing both characteristics. From the supply side, gold’s production cannot be significantly increased—Earth’s total gold reserves are limited, mining is difficult, and expansion capacity is extremely constrained. From the demand side, after thousands of years of history, gold has become a globally recognized store of value, with a solid consensus foundation. It is precisely this combination of “supply rigidity + demand consensus” that keeps gold’s long-term value relatively stable and makes its premium space easier to recognize.

Where Is Copper’s Ceiling: The “Tightening” of Industrial Cycles

Copper’s situation is entirely different. Although copper is also an important industrial metal, its price is mainly driven by industrial demand cycles. During good economic times, industrial capacity expands rapidly, increasing supply, and prices have a clear ceiling. During economic downturns, capacity shrinks, and prices decline accordingly. This cyclical characteristic means copper cannot form a lasting consensus foundation like gold; its price ceiling is directly constrained by the state of the industrial cycle.

Long-Term Value Differences from Supply Elasticity

Simply put, gold’s supply almost does not respond to price signals—no matter how high the price, it is difficult to significantly increase production, which is the source of its scarcity. Copper, on the other hand, sees higher prices incentivize capacity expansion, which eventually lowers prices, creating a self-regulating cycle. This difference in supply flexibility determines that copper’s ceiling height is relatively fixed, while gold’s value space depends on the continuous deepening of global consensus.

Consensus Strength Determines Long-Term Investment Value

Ultimately, gold’s ability to maintain a value position surpassing other commodities fundamentally stems from the combination of a strong global consensus foundation and extremely low supply elasticity. These two factors form an invisible barrier, making gold’s ceiling higher and more stable. Although copper is indispensable in industrial applications, its cyclical nature and adjustable capacity make its price ceiling relatively obvious and limited.