Bhp on copper demand14 Apr 2021 22:18
BHP president of minerals for the Americas, Ragnar Udd has laid out why he is so bullish on the copper industry at the moment.
He said "A great example is electric vehicles. Policy signposts for rapid electric vehicle (EV) adoption were distinctly favourable over the last (12) months and we have revised our internal EV penetration forecasts upwards,". He added, "These vehicles use four times as much copper as petrol-based cars, and they will also need more infrastructure to connect charging stations to the grid.".
Udd stated that BHP expected the world's Paris-aligned emissions reduction targets to more than double the demand for copper and quadruple for nickel over the next 30 years. "The commodities we produce are the building blocks of the modern world. And they always have been," Udd said.
In regards to demand "Everything from railroads to bridges, aeroplanes to batteries, and mobile phones to medical instruments require the resources that we produce. The simple truth is that we cannot build a better world without a reliable supply of these natural resources.".
BHP had invested about $US11 billion ($14.39 billion) in Chile alone, the world largest copper-producing nation. The Escondida mine is 57.5% BHP-owned and produced 1.19 million tonnes of copper in 2020.
By Rajan Dhall
For Kitco News