Electric vehicle sales to push copper prices up
Written by Millennium on February 18, 2019
BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes
@SunZambia
SALES for electric vehicles sales is expected to grow to 11 million in the next six years, thereby increasing the demand for copper.
Last week, copper climbed towards the US$6,200-mark.
Commenting on this, Deloitte’s Global Mining and Metals Group Phil Hopwood said there was more growth on the horizon.
Mr Hopwood said copper, in Africa and elsewhere, offered many interesting opportunities right now.
At the moment, he explained, it did not take much to disrupt the market.
He was speaking recently at the just ended Mining Indaba in South Africa.
“It is difficult to predict the future demand as things never go as you expect it. History has taught us that cycles are never the same.
“Investors are nervous because they have been burnt in the past. As a result, there hasn’t been a lot of investment in new copper mines. Most copper mines are old,” he said.
And group chief executive officer, Darren Davis said the company had planned to explore opportunities outside Saudi Arabia, a country with sizeable copper reserves, without wanting to divulge on possible locations.
Mr Davis said “the Kingdom has potential, particularly in copper, but we’re some years away from finding something really transformative. We need to be global in more than just marketing, so we’ll look very carefully at opportunities to invest outside of the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg survey indicated that the number of electric vehicle sales are expected to grow from 1.6 million in 2018 to 11 million in the next six years, then surging to 30 million in 2030 as they become cheaper to make than internal combustion engine cars.
