Goldman Sachs also predicts that copper prices could rise up to $15,000 per tonne by 2025. This is almost 68% higher than the current level. Tight Supply-Demand Balance Creates an Opportunity The bank’s economists compare the copper deficit of the 2020s to the oil deficit of the 2000s. Back then, a 5% demand-supply shortfall drove the price of oil from $20 to almost $150.
And for copper… well, over the next several years, the deficit could be three times as high, at 15%. This is why the bank’s analysts are so optimistic. Copper stockpiles are already low, and they are declining as the world consumes more and more of the metal. It’s needed everywhere, from electric vehicles to solar installations, wires, and electronics.
This is why it has been the best-performing industrial metal this year. And, if supply and demand projections are correct, the copper market will continue growing. In 2021, the world consumed about 25 million tonnes of copper.
By 2030, it will need about 40 million tonnes per year, or 60% higher. Mining companies will not be likely to catch up with this soaring demand. In fact, mining executives already describe the situation as a supply-demand “train wreck.” Copper = $$$$$