Copper Demand Soars: Is a Price Surge Coming?

By Goehring & Rozencwajg

Copper demand remains strong. According to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS), demand for the first ten months of 2022 ran 3.7% higher than the first ten months of 2021. Chinese demand continues to surprise to the upside, even with ongoing property woes and COVID-related lockdowns. For the first ten months of 2022, Chinese demand ran 5.5% higher than in 2021. Indian demand also continues to surge. For the first ten months of 2021, it grew over 30% year-over-year.

In previous letters, we have outlined our belief that surging Indian copper demand would be one of the enormous surprises this decade. Led by increases in Germany and Italy, European demand is also surprising, running 3% higher than last year.

Total mine supply has not kept pace with demand, having increased by 1.7% year-over-year, according to WBMS data.