Retired US Navy Commander Phil Ehr joins Kitco News to break down why the global copper market is rapidly transitioning from a basic industrial story into a critical national security risk.
Commander Ehr details how maritime chokepoints, specifically the Strait of Hormuz, are threatening the sulfuric acid supply chains required for copper refining. He unpacks the looming 2027 Pentagon procurement deadlines restricting materials from adversarial nations and warns that the defense sector will likely take priority over the consumer grid and AI data centers as critical mineral supplies tighten.
“Copper is the glue that holds it all together,” warns Commander Ehr, noting its non-negotiable role in everything from advanced missile guidance to the modern power grid.
Recorded June 2 2026
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00:00 Copper Becomes Security
01:20 Meet Commander Phil Ehr
02:44 Why Copper Powers Defense
05:15 Hormuz Chokepoint Shock
08:05 2027 Pentagon Sourcing Rules
10:05 Rare Earth Export Squeeze
12:19 Mining Timelines vs AI Demand
16:50 Who Gets Copper First
18:43 Allied Supply Chain Push
20:57 Finding Real Copper Projects
23:54 Campaign Plug and Signoff
24:50 Final Takeaway
#Copper #NationalSecurity #SupplyChain #Macroeconomics #KitcoNews
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46 Comments
The people need to get together with some ex Special Operations soldiers and start blowing these data centers up. Wait till they build them and then level them they'll get the message real quick after spending hundreds of billions of dollars😅😅😅😅😅😅
First Things First; The increase in threats to our Satellites needed for the Completion of the Network because of CME's [ Corona Mass Ejections ]
The sky is falling
The electrical grid was built and paid for by the American citizens
Not by the Data Centers .
Data centers need to be told to produce their own electricity
Water and electricity need to be protected for the safety of Americans
Get your own
Don’t use mine
The Grid breaking would be a blessing .
MIC Shill ignores what country has invaded and murdered civilians in all of its neighboring countries over the last 50+years and it ain’t Iran.
This guy lost the last war and is judging by a 4 month operation as a failure lol
Nut job
A thought-provoking warning that shouldn't be ignored.
Worth discussing: How do we expand AI without overloading the energy system?
The future of AI may depend as much on electricity as on algorithms.
Worth discussing: How do we expand AI without overloading the energy system?
This warning deserves serious attention. Energy infrastructure needs to keep pace with AI growth.
A powerful reminder that technology depends on real-world resources.
AI is advancing fast, but can our power grid keep up?
Data centres created for oligarchs need to be replaced world-wide with prison centres created for oligarchs.
The Chinese beat us out already on Art Intel tech & efficiency. Why build these boondoggles across the US? Already OBSOLITE
China has their Data Centers in the Sky. That’s where they cool them down
Minding one's own territory and business…is the order of the future days…o5herwise it will be heavy physical aggression and fighting wars
Not basic trade….basic theft… and it is end8ng soon
Good let it break!! we need the Purge anyway.
us has 5000 data center aka surveillance center china has 500 = USI GULAG ARCHIPELAGO
Less copper means less silver
I keep stacking copper pennies. Have 2 full big Culligan jugs of copper pennies working on a 3rd. Probably around $600 in copper pennies
This is the kind of content we need more of connecting technology, economics, and national security in a way that's easy to understand. Well explained, Phil!
This apparent Trump-Netanyahu supporter considers it a national security risk if we don't spend trillions of dollars to counter the
retaliation from countries like Iran that US & Israel attacked because Iran brazenly interferes with the genocide of the Palestinian
Semites. So therefore we'll need to mine hundreds of thousands of tons more of copper alone just to ensure such operations like
the Israeli genocide in Gaza can continue.
A 27 min long commercial? Yawn. Jeremy, not your fault he could answer one out of 5 of your really good questions. Save your ? for a guy who has lived copper. WOULD like to hear from a guest that can tell us why more metals refineries are not being planned-constructed.
A second guest who can tell us how in the h*ll we can get rid of the useless breed of politician that has gotten the entire western world into this commodity squeeze mess. Two generations of millstones around necks.
A third guest to find a useful and obedient breed to the people they are suppose to represent in good faith. Don't tell, we're f**k*d. But seriously, please think about it.
😂
Crazy that a pawn of the MIC frames mullahs as terrorists😂😂😂
Copper might become the most important commodity of the next decade
Everyone wants AI, EVs, and data centers. Few people ask where the copper will come from
The market may still be underestimating future copper demand
This is one of those interviews that changes how you look at an entire industry
People talk about chips and AI, but nobody talks enough about the raw materials behind them
The sulfuric acid angle is something I had never considered before. Great interview.
If AI demand keeps growing, copper supply could become a major bottleneck
The connection between national security and copper is much stronger than most investors realize
Interesting perspective. Most people still think copper is just another industrial metal.
Copper has quietly become one of the most important strategic resources in the world
Nice video, watched till the end)
This was actually interesting to watch!
Amazing… It's exactly as I thought… Thanks👍
super
WOW
Deluded American blame your government not the Iranians for being attacked…war on terror my arse
starting trading wars and wars during ai race without having most basic metals beeded for offense defense energy sector semiconductor sector is soo not smart and shortsiggted oil cant build datacenter or battleship or fighter or satelite or solar panel. metals like copper silver do. just wait it will all show up very soon and the longer it last the longer it will take the global ecenomy to recover or adjust and deeper the recession will be and it is not about if anymore