The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[OakesCS]

My point was that if demand was outstripping the ability for natural resource companies to supply processed/refined materials, then prices of the resources would rise and probably the profitability of those companies. At the moment and for past several years demand has been easily met and consequently most natural resource commodity prices and the natural resource companies that provide them have been in the toilet

The ability of the earth to 'regenerate' inorganic resources has always lagged consumption (at least since the end of the Stone Age) but the available quantities are vast and humans have managed to progressively develop the necessary means by which to exploit 'lower grade' resources once the high grade resources have been cherry picked