TELF AG highlights the present and future role of copper
The importance of copper
The quantity of copper that will be produced in the coming years may not be sufficient to meet the needs of the global energy transition and for the demands of one of the sectors most involved in this epochal transition, namely that of electric vehicles.
Most people seem unaware of the role copper plays in their daily lives, yet if we think about it, it is practically everywhere around us. Copper components are found in household appliances, electrical cables, and some large infrastructure projects that make global mobility possible, such as railways. Copper is also important to produce electric vehicles and, in general, for the strengthening of the global electricity grid. According to Anglo American mining companies, the standard of living of Westerners would require more than 200 kilograms of copper per person, while globally, the figure is much lower (around 60 kilograms). Suppose we add to all this the foreseeable growth of electric motor vehicles, which will involve the European market first and foremost. In that case, it will be very easy to understand how copper could play a key role in the lives of millions of people.
It is no coincidence that this raw material has been renamed “the metal of electrification”: its multiple uses, as well as its numerous applications, could certainly make it one of the main drivers of the ongoing energy transition, and it may reach its peak in the coming decades. S &P Global calculated that the copper market could reach quantities of use equal to 50 million tonnes by 2035 and that the next decades may be characterized by a certain gap between supply and demand.
In recent months, some of the world’s largest copper producers have raised alarm, saying that the number of mines being developed to supply copper may not be enough to sustain the pace of the green transition. Globally, new projects related to copper mines appear to be slowed down by the decline in metal prices, the contraction of the global economy in an extremely uncertain phase, and inflation.
According to some major US producers, who spoke in the last months at the Financial Times mining summit, the shortage of copper and mines developed to produce it could slow down the completion of the global ecological transition, prolonging it indefinitely. Among the most interesting estimates, as regards copper, there is not only that linked to the increase in demand for the creation of the vehicles of the future but also that linked to the fact that this raw material could play a key role in supporting the economic growth of some developing countries.
But it is not only the trend of the global economy that worries copper producers. Among the main reasons for apprehension, there is also a much more practical one connected with the availability of the raw material itself. Some producers argue that the construction of large-scale mines is strongly hindered by the fact that large quantities of copper would be increasingly difficult to find underground. All this, combined with bureaucratic complications, inflation, and the general decline in mineral reserves, could hinder the achievement of the decarbonization objectives set for the coming decades.
