Chinese demand for ‘green’ metals increasing ‘exceptionally fast’ – Glencore – by Martin Creamer (MiningWeekly.com – August 7, 2019)

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JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The demand for environmentally protective ‘green’ metals is increasing exceptionally fast, boosted by a 59% increase in electric vehicle production in China, Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg said on Wednesday.

In response to Mining Weekly Online during a post-results conference call, Glasenberg reiterated that Glencore had the right range of metals for which demand was poised to rise as the world decarbonised. But while demand growth remained positive, supply was low, with easily accessible high-quality resources running out.

The London- and Johannesburg-listed Glencore is a producer and a marketer of metals including copper, nickel and cobalt, which are all well positioned for future outcomes, despite the cobalt price being down currently.

A slide displayed during the results presentation projected that up to 620-million electric vehicles would be on the roads by 2040. “We’ve got the right metals. Demand is growing for these. You see the amount of electric vehicles, which is growing, especially the production in China, which is increasing exceptionally fast.

“Year-on-year, the amount of electric vehicles in China increased by something like 59% from the one year to the last. Europe is a little bit slower. I think the growth in electric vehicles in Europe occurs towards the second half of this year towards the fourth quarter and then we should start having the European electric cars growing.

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