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The performance of the price of copper
has not been very spectacular. After a
big drop last spring, the price of the red
metal has been modestly climbing since
fall 2019 but this could be the calm before
the storm.
Waiting in the wings are events and
circumstances that that will generate
tremendous demand for copper in the
medium term that will be basically driven
by government policies and the general
public's wish to be greener. It's not every
government that is legislating the demise
of the internal combustion engine but it's
spreading. Coupled with that is legisla-
tion and grants to foster the use of electric
vehicles. Some jurisdictions are even con-
sidering banning gasoline-powered car in
their cities.
Here are the stats: internal combustion
engines require about 23 kg of copper,
hybrids, require 40 kg, plug-in hybrid
electric vehicles need 60 kg and battery
electric vehicles require 84 kg. Today,
there are about a million electric vehicles
(EVs) in use. However, it has been esti-
mated that by 2035, there will be 140
million EVs.
It's numbers such as these that have
prompted the World Bank to state: [Copper
demand] is expected to jump by as much
as 50% over the next 20 years alone, and
this growth is part of a wider trend. As the
World Bank points out, "We could see a
10-fold rise in demand for metals, includ-
ing copper, by 2050 as the world moves
toward a low carbon energy future."
Copper
demand
to rise
WITH GOVERNMENTS LEGISLATING AN END TO
INTERNAL COMBUSTION VEHICLES, AND EVS
PREPARING TO TAKE THEIR PLACE, THERE CAN'T HELP
BUT BE A LOOMING INCREASED COPPER DEMAND
by Ellsworth Dickson
