Robin Griffin
MINING
“ There ’ s a long-term issue around the supply of copper in the energy transition industry ”
ROBIN GRIFFIN METALS & MINING RESEARCH VP WOOD MACKENZIE
inflationary pressures , which has slowed growth and with it , the demand for copper .
But with global inflation set to fall throughout 2024 , the economic brakes will be released , and demand for copper will skyrocket .
But how will the copper industry meet such demand . It will not be easy .
China is expected to contribute around 50 % of the refined global copper production in 2024 . China ’ s annual copper smelting capacity is about 8.8 million tonnes . A near- 30 % expansion of 2.4 million tonnes is set for completion by 2026 , according to data from Antaike .
Much of this copper is needed by the country ’ s huge EV manufacturing market – the China-based BYD is now the world ’ s largest EV car maker – but it is a similar story in the US , with Tesla , and in Germany , with BMW , VW and Mercedes .
So where is all the extra copper the world needs going to come from ?
According to the International Copper Association , one tonne of copper brings
Robin Griffin
TITLE : METALS & MINING RESEARCH VP
COMPANY : WOOD MACKENZIE INDUSTRY : MINING ANALYTICS
Griffin has spent 16 years at Wood Mackenzie , before which he was Senior Consultant in Australia with Barlow Jonker , a mining company .
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