RE: Ref: SP8 May 2019 09:44
Copper Well Positioned To Lead The Next Resource Cycle
Frank HolmesContributor
Great SpeculationsContributor Group
Markets
Copper Well Positioned to Lead the Next Resource Cycle
Copper Well Positioned to Lead the Next Resource Cycle IVANHOE MINES
The world is on a path to vast shortages in copper, nickel, lithium and other important minerals that are necessary to build the batteries in electric vehicles. So says Tesla’s global supply manager, according to Reuters.
The comment comes as the electric car maker broke ground in Shanghai for its first overseas “Gigafactory.” Tesla’s first battery factory, in Reno, Nevada—the largest in the world—is still in expansion mode and aims to produce as many as 105 gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery cells and 150 GWh of battery packs by next year.
All combined, that’s a lot of copper that will need to come down the pipeline very soon.
But some analysts now say that capacity isn’t quite there yet to feed global demand, and the industry could be running in deficit by 2021. Commodities analyst firm CRU Group expects copper supply to be short some 41,000 tons that year and 270,000 tons a couple of years later.
Meaning: We could be looking at another commodities super-cycle, with the red metal leading the way.