Opinion: Why are commodities rising all at once? 

It started with gold. Then silver. Then platinum. Then copper, aluminum, uranium, and zinc have all followed too. 

And now it’s the laggards. Oil, gas, and coal. 

Is the global economy playing a game of commodity dominoes? Or is something else happening here? 

Few tackle this fundamental question, and that’s because they’ve probably lost any long-term lens through which to view the commodity market. You’ve probably seen it; each price spike, with copper for example, can be ‘explained’ by some geopolitical factor or a supply-and-demand factor. 

But these headline explanations never get to the heart of why virtually all commodities have entered a phase of price inflation. Instead, convenient and ‘rational’ explanations are used to justify price rises. 

Let’s take gold. Much of the bullish momentum has been driven by concerns about ‘US dollar debasement.’ Endless money printing and the dilution of the value of paper cash have been viewed as key catalysts for rising gold prices. But US dollar debasement has always been a concern for investors. 

I recall the commodity boom during the early 2000s, when gold was surging like it is today. And what was the key explanation for gold’s record surge 20 years ago? Dollar debasement! 

Excessive money creation and high government debt have slowly eroded purchasing power and currency values throughout recent history. In other words, dollar debasement has been happening alongside surging, falling, and flat gold prices! 

So, again, this ‘reason’ doesn’t get to the heart of why gold is in a bull market. It’s just a recycled narrative that gets pushed out every time gold prices rise. 

To get to the core of the matter, you need to recognize that commodities rise in packs. Commodity bull markets are characterized by broad gains across metals, minerals, energy, and food across periods that often last for seven to 10 years. 

That’s not to say they’re all rising exactly at the same time. This parallel bull market often sees certain commodities spiking at different times. For example, gold made a major top earlier this year. Coal is making a major top now. And each top is followed by a period of price stability before it makes another move higher. 

That is, until the cycle ends. 

The commodity mystery 

But why do commodities rise virtually all at once, despite having very different, sometimes opposing demand drivers? 

Take gold: it’s traditionally associated with economic uncertainty and a hedge against market risk. On the other hand, industrial metals like copper, zinc, and aluminum are tied to the complete opposite dynamic: surging growth! 

In 2026, precious and industrial metals are moving in lockstep. But this is not an anomaly; this is how commodity cycles operate. 

What’s going on? 

As a background, I’m a geologist who’s spent most of my career in the mining industry, from early-stage grassroots exploration to production. I’ve worked across a bunch of commodities, from gold and copper to zinc and iron ore. 

And despite the diversity of experience, job opportunities have tended to be all-or-nothing. Either there’s an abundance of work on offer, or there’s hardly anything available. And when putting food on the table is dictated by commodity prices, you tend to pay close attention. 

That experience has sent me down the rabbit hole of trying to understand the highly cyclical landscape of commodity markets. A key part of what I do for my paid readership group is to look at history, specifically the events that drove past commodity upswings. 

Whether that’s the gold rush of the 1890s, the outbreak of the First World War, or the U.S. Civil War, rising commodity prices are interwoven with the most significant events in history. That makes sense, after all, commodities are the foundation for building and maintaining economies. 

No matter what innovation brings, we still need raw materials to build the infrastructure to develop new technologies. That’s why I spend a lot of time trolling through old books, studying booms and busts, and paying special attention to commodity markets. 

And throughout all that research, one common theme keeps reappearing: The foundation for the upward move across the entire commodity spectrum is a lack of new supply. 

And that’s driven by prolonged underinvestment in exploration and mining development. You see, without future supply, the resource market falls out of balance and becomes exposed to events that drive prices higher. 

And it’s these ‘events’ that get attached to rising prices. The headline stories that accompany price jumps. But these events are not so much the cause, just the catalyst that sparks prices higher. 

So, the next time you read a bullish narrative about a certain commodity rising, whether it’s gold, copper or whatever, step back and think: why now? 

The truth is, the foundation for higher prices was laid years ago: a lack of investment in new mines or new oil wells. And that’s the real secret as to why commodities tend to move cyclically and in lock-step with each other. 

Simply put, a decade of underinvestment leads to a succeeding decade of price inflation. And while the events colliding with rising prices may vary from cycle to cycle, like the Vietnam War of the 1970s or the China infrastructure boom of the early 2000s, the underlying cause never changes: underinvestment in new supply. 

Once you understand that core principle, then you’re ready to take advantage as an investor. 

James Cooper is a geologist based in Australia who runs the commodities investment service Diggers and Drillers. You can also follow him on X @JCooperGeo.