Market Analysis

Mainz – November 05, 2026 -- Prices for copper and nickel could nearly double by 2035 as demand from the energy transition, power grids and AI data centers outpaces supply, according to an analysis by credit insurer Coface. The study projects structural shortages across copper, nickel and aluminium.

Nickel faces a 6.5-million-tonne deficit by 2035

Nickel shows the widest projected gap. Battery production and electric mobility could push the market into a deficit of about 6.5 million tonnes by 2035, equal to roughly 35% of forecast demand.

Copper could post a supply deficit of 1.5 million to 6.5 million tonnes by 2035, depending on demand. In a high-demand scenario, the gap could reach up to 17% of global demand, Coface industry analyst Simon Lacoume said, adding that the rapid build-out of data centers adds pressure.

Irvine, Calif. – November 04, 2026 -- Only 22% of organizations surveyed by Gartner have scaled artificial intelligence across multiple business units or adopted an AI-first approach, even though 85% of surveyed functional leaders plan to increase AI spending in 2026, according to enterprise technology provider Trace3. The company says the gap becomes expensive when tools reach departments faster than they can coordinate purchasing, prepare data, set safeguards and measure returns.

Deloitte data shows tool access outpacing process redesign

Deloitte's 2026 State of AI in the Enterprise report found that workforce access to sanctioned AI tools rose from under 40% to around 60% within a year. Only 30% of surveyed organizations were redesigning key processes around AI.

Beijing – November 05, 2026 -- Net profit at Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed companies reached RMB 5.1 trillion in the first three quarters of 2026, up 8.5% year on year, the fastest growth since 2022. Yan Xiang, chief economist at Founder Securities, says the figure supports a favorable long-term outlook for China's A-share market despite recent volatility.

Technology boards account for nearly 80% of new listings since 2024

The STAR Market, ChiNext and Beijing Stock Exchange have drawn more technology companies to the A-share market since capital market reforms began. Together they account for nearly 80% of new listings since 2024. The TMT (technology, media and telecommunications) sector now makes up more than one-quarter of total A-share market capitalization, well above the combined weight of banks, non-bank financials and real estate. Electronics has overtaken banking as the largest sector by market cap.

Cologne – November 04, 2026 -- European electronics manufacturers face sharply higher negotiating pressure after the EU Commission cleared JD.com's takeover of Ceconomy, the parent of MediaMarkt and Saturn, according to Björn Dahmen, Senior Partner at consultancy Simon-Kucher.

Central control makes international price gaps harder to defend

JD.com's data, purchasing and supply-chain expertise is likely to make MediaMarktSaturn's management more centralized and international, Dahmen said. Customer investments such as trade terms and temporary discounts become more transparent and comparable across markets. Unjustified international differences in prices and terms will no longer hold up, he said. Manufacturers without coordinated international pricing and terms management are exposed. Retail media is also set to gain importance as customer investments are distributed and managed centrally.

Stuttgart – November 03, 2026 -- Mid-sized contract manufacturers can enter defense supply chains with their existing machinery by producing dual-use components, but only if they pursue customers actively, according to sales consultancy matchandmake GmbH.

The firm says rising defense investment is creating additional demand, yet many smaller industrial suppliers wrongly assume such orders are reserved for large defense groups or highly specialized producers. Managing Director Luka Glavas argues that contract manufacturers with suitable equipment risk leaving these opportunities to competitors.

Frankfurt – November 03, 2026 -- Battery-electric vehicles took more than 8% of Indian passenger car registrations in September 2026, and BEV registrations nearly doubled from a year earlier, according to FADA data cited by consultancy BearingPoint. Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra together captured about 63% of those BEV registrations, narrowing the window for European carmakers to build a position.

The share of electric vehicles in Indian new-car registrations stood at just 4% at the end of 2025, per FADA. It has climbed steadily through 2026 and is approaching the 10% mark.

Urban buyers favor BEVs 39% to 17% over combustion cars

BearingPoint's international e-mobility study shows a gap between purchase intent and market reality. Among urban respondents likely to buy a vehicle within three years, 39% prefer a new BEV and 25% a hybrid or plug-in hybrid. Only 17% want a new petrol or diesel car.

European Union – October 31, 2026 -- EU underground gas storage stood at 75% of capacity on 21 October 2026, and the upper-bound cost of refilling it this year reached €27 billion, according to the latest gas Monitoring Report from the EU energy regulators' agency ACER.

Slow refill began from a lower starting point than in 2025

Storage ended winter 2025-2026 at 28% of capacity, down from 34% a year earlier. Disrupted liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows linked to the Middle East conflict slowed the refill further. EU stocks remain below historical levels. The average cost of injected gas was the second highest in the past decade.

Global – October 31, 2026 -- Reserve grades at producing silver mines span from about 12.63 g/t Ag at Coeur Mining's Rochester in Nevada to roughly 867 g/t at Hecla's Keno Hill, which shows that no single threshold defines "high-grade" silver.

Fresnillo reported a 2024 silver ore grade of 468 g/t at Juanicipio, an underground operation in Mexico. Hecla's year-end 2025 Keno Hill reserves stood at 25.28 ounces of silver per ton. Rochester's 2025 proven and probable reserves come from a large-tonnage open-pit heap-leach operation.

Grade does not equal recovered metal, and mines sell only recovered metal

A tonne carrying 500 g/t contains five times the silver of a 100 g/t tonne before recovery losses. Mines sell recovered metal, however, not grade. A narrow, discontinuous or hard-to-reach zone can leave a striking assay with limited economic value. Dilution from waste rock can also cut the grade delivered to the plant.

Global – October 31, 2026 -- Industrial fabrication consumed 657.4 million ounces of silver in 2025, down 3% from the 2024 record of 680.5 million ounces, according to the World Silver Survey 2026. Metals Focus forecasts a further decline of roughly 3% in 2026, to 639.6 million ounces.

Industrial use remains the largest broad component of silver demand. It accounted for well over half of the approximately 1.13 billion ounces of total demand in 2025, so shifts in industrial consumption can alter the wider supply-demand balance.

Solar thrifting drives the decline as installations keep growing

Photovoltaic demand reached a record 197.6 million ounces in 2024, about 29% of industrial silver demand, up from roughly 11% a decade earlier. The World Silver Survey 2026 attributes much of the 2025 reversal to changing silver use within solar manufacturing, not to weakness in electrification or electronics.

Online – October 31, 2026 -- Expansion ARR now accounts for 40% of total new ARR, up five points year on year, according to a 2025 Benchmarkit SaaS report cited at a ChurnZero webinar. The figure sharpens a decision facing customer success (CS) leaders planning for 2027: whether their teams own retention, expansion, or both.

Unanet ties CSM performance to net bookings across both revenue streams

Unanet's CS team owns retention and expansion, and CSMs are measured on a net bookings basis, said Jeff Davison, the company's Chief Customer Officer. His reasoning: accounts cannot grow unless the company retains them.