Flourishing activity in the electric vehicle, power infrastructure, AI and automation sectors will lead to at least 10 million metric tons of additional copper consumption over the next decade, commodity trader Trafigura told Reuters.
Technological developments such as artificial intelligence and automation, and the energy transition, which includes electric vehicles and renewable energy, have already driven up demand prospects for copper cable used to conduct electricity.
Estimates of new demand from these applications vary, but Graeme Train, head of metals analysis at Swiss-based Trafigura, said one third of the 10 million tons of new demand would come from the electric vehicle sector.
