Ann: Hammer Secures Funds for Active Mt Isa Copper Exploration, page-72

The copper market could experience an "unprecedented" development in the coming years, according to Citigroup (NYSE:C). The backdrop is the expected soaring of the metal, driven by the growing demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy.In an interview with Bloomberg last week, Max Layton, Managing Director for Commodities Research at Citi, commented that he sees now as an ideal entry point for investors while copper prices are still subdued due to global recession concerns. The red metal is currently trading around $8,300 per tonne, about 26% below its all-time high of nearly $11,300 in October 2021.According to Layton, copper could reach a peak of USD 15,000 per tonne by 2025, a jump that "makes the 2008 oil rally look like child's play."



Citi also pointed out that while copper could fall further in the short term, it should start to recover over the next six to 12 months as the market fully acknowledges the massive supply-demand imbalance. This gap should likely widen as demand for electric vehicles and renewables increases.Sales of internal combustion vehicles will peak this decade: BloombergNEFElectric vehicles require up to three times more copper than conventional internal combustion engine vehicles. This is problematic in that the number of new copper deposits being discovered is decreasing and the time it takes from discovery to production is increasing due to rising costs. According to S&P Global, of the 224 copper deposits discovered between 1990 and 2019, only 16 were discovered in the last 10 years.At the same time, sales of electric vehicles continue to rise. Last year, a total of 10.5 million vehicles were sold, and forecasts by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (NEF) suggest that this number could rise to around 27 million by 2026. Bloomberg forecasts that the global fleet of CE-class vehicles will peak in just two years, after which the market will be dominated mainly by e-vehicles and, to a lesser extent, hybrids. By 2030, e-vehicles could account for 44% of all car sales, and by 2040, three-quarters of all vehicle sales could be in this category.



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