By Peter Kennedy In spite of recent price fluctuations and concerns about demand recovery in China, the long-term outlook for copper looks bright. Analysts say that’s partly because the red metal is expected to play a central role in facilitating the global transition to renewable energy and electrification. Copper has four key properties that make
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By Peter Kennedy
In spite of recent price fluctuations and concerns about demand recovery in China, the long-term outlook for copper looks bright.
Analysts say that’s partly because the red metal is expected to play a central role in facilitating the global transition to renewable energy and electrification.
Copper has four key properties that make it ideal for the clean energy transition, including conductivity, ductility, efficiency and recyclability. Copper is recyclable and can be used repeatedly without any loss in performance. The red metal also has the highest electrical conductivity rating of all non-precious metals. Its ductility means copper can easily be shaped into pipes, wires and sheets.
These properties make copper essential for energy storage, electrical propulsion, (e.g. electric vehicles), and renewable energy. It is worth noting that electric vehicles can require up to four times as much copper as gasoline vehicles.
Goldman Sachs predicts that copper demand for low-carbon technologies will grow to 5.4 million tonnes by 2030, up from one million tonnes in 202src. “Meanwhile, the number of operating mines and proposed projects are not meeting projected demand and the supply scenario looks quite constrained over the medium term,’’ Goldman said.
On March src8, 2024, the price of copper hit US$4.srcsrc a pound, its highest level since April 2023, as investors focused on risks to supply at mines and smelters, along with a generally more positive global economic outlook. The rally came after copper had been trading in a relatively narrow band for the previous three months.
The copper market remains very tight, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in a report. “The combination of record low copper stocks, our expectation of peak mine supply next year, rapid green demand growth, and low-price elasticity of both supply and demand will, in our view lead to copper scarcity pricing in 2025,’’ said analysts led by Lina Thomas said.
However, by
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