China's demand for electric vehicles charges copper

Copper is a very ordinary building material that has been involved in every facet of our lives, from household electric wires to smartphones to electric cars, which use three times more metal than conventional vehicles.

According to Citigroup badysts, the beginning of a long-term demand trend is occurring in China, where copper in electric cars is expected to offset a sharp decline related to gasoline car sales this year.

According to Citi, the number of gasoline cars manufactured in China this year is expected to fall by 9%, while the production of electric cars is expected to increase by 53%. This translates into net growth in copper demand of 0.3% for the sector.

"[For copper] it's an EV story in the 2020s and we already have a glimpse of it early, "said Oliver Nugent of Citi. "Thanks to the higher intensity of copper in electric vehicles, we will overcome this very low number of automotive applications this year."

In the long run, the bank said that copper for electric cars would account for two-thirds of the growth in demand for electric cars between 2018 and 2030.

Copper prices rose 5 percent this year to $ 6,139 a tonne, suggesting that investors are less afraid of the consequences of the slowdown in China, the biggest consumer in the world.

Citi expects copper prices to reach $ 6,700 in 2019, thanks to an overall 2% growth in Chinese demand and the resolution of the US-China trade dispute.