Not Just EVs...look at JapanWell, here we are. Copper at 9 year high and it just keeps getting better. And if you thought it was only EVs, look what Japan is up to. And when Japan commits, they commit.
Japan’s renewable goals to boost copper, rare metal use
Japan's efforts to expand renewable power output are likely to boost demand for copper and rare metals over the coming decades, given the products' key role in the construction of wind, solar and geothermal power equipment.
The country's trade and industry ministry (Meti) is stepping up efforts to maximise output of renewable power to achieve its 2050 carbon neutral target, which cannot be realised without the decarbonisation of the power sector. Its draft proposal says 50-60pc of total power output should come from renewable sources in 2050, followed by 30-40pc from nuclear and thermal fuels combined with the use of carbon capture and storage.
Japan is aiming to develop 10GW of offshore wind power capacity by 2030, rising to up to 45GW by 2040. The 2030 target would require 115,000 t/yr of copper and 1,060 t/yr of neodymium to make generation motors, transformers and electrical wires, Meti said. The requirements are equivalent to around 10pc of the country's total copper consumption of 1.06mn t in 2018, and around 23pc of neodymium use of 4,624t in the same year.
Solar power generators need indium, gallium, selenium and copper, while geothermal units require titanium, according to Meti. It did not indicate any consumption targets for these products, possibly because details of the 2050 power mix — part of the country's basic energy policy — have yet to be formalised.
The potential rise in renewable power energy will increase demand for batteries as storage, which will also boost use of vanadium, lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and copper, Meti said.
The rising demand for mineral resources, supported also by increasing electric vehicle use, will prompt resource-poor Japan to take further efforts to ensure stable supplies — including by seeking more overseas upstream assets and improving recycling technologies — to enhance the self-sufficiency rate.
Japan's self-sufficiency rate varies widely by resource, with copper at 53pc, manganese at 58pc, nickel at 34pc, cobalt at 42pc, vanadium at 16pc and titanium at 3pc in the April 2018 to March 2019 fiscal year.
By Motoko Hasegawa