World Copper Market to Enter an Age of Large Deficits

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): S&P Global Market Intelligence anticipates global copper demand to almost double to around 50 million tonnes by last year. At the current annual growth rate of 2.69% witnessed over the past decade, the global copper output will reach only around 31 million tonnes, significantly lower than the predicted demand of 50 million tonnes. The global copper market is poised to enter ages of large deficits, S&P said in its most recently released copper market analysis report.

The S&P analysis predicts much larger copper supply gap, in comparison with other research firms. According to McKinsey, the annual copper demand is predicted to touch 36.6 million tonnes by the beginning of the next decade. It forecasts copper supply at around 30.1 million tonnes, thus resulting in a market deficit of 6.5 million tonnes. Goldman Sachs predicts copper demand at even higher range, mainly on account of the anticipated surge in green use of the metal.

The consumption of copper is projected to rise, mainly driven by increased demand from infrastructure for renewable energy needs as well as electric vehicles. On the contrary, geopolitical factors are likely to contribute to major shortfall in global copper supply.

The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) had recently revised downwards its global copper mine production growth targets for 2023 from 5.3% to 3%.