CRU World Copper Conference: Friedland on the new world order – by Trish Saywell(Northern Miner – April 14, 2021)

Global mining news

Robert Friedland, the founder and executive co-chairman of Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; US-OTC: IVPAF) gave a keynote presentation at this year’s virtual CRU World Copper Conference. Filmed from his home in Singapore on April 13, the billionaire spoke about what the electric future will look like and what needs to happen to the supply chain to get there. He also called copper a “national security issue.” What follows is a transcript of his comments:

“We’re here to talk about the revenge of the miners and how important it is that we sustainably mine copper metal for the new world economy. We spent about 100 years where the principal real reason for fighting wars was hydrocarbon. War! Hydrocarbon!

And now we see hydrocarbon relatively less important over a period of say a generation; for a generation and a half. And so we now see the balkanization of the world economy, where Greater China has been focused on their energy security, on their own industrial transformation, their own electrification, the improvement of the environment for their own people, top to bottom, eliminating water pollution, air pollution, electric transportation.

And then a fear of Europe and the United States. That they also have to secure their entire, top to bottom, supply chain, and that leaves people out, like the Japanese, or the Koreans, or the Indonesians, or the Brazilians, wondering about their supply chain.

And so as each block starts worrying about the national security implications of their supply chain, this balkanization of what was a perfectly integrated world economy the last ten years, is inherently inflationary, and inherently involves the duplication of effort.

If an American went to a Walmart store the last ten years to buy some cheap consumer goods, they were invariably made in China. And even now, America’s trade deficit is super-high with China. And if that lawnmower, or that microwave oven, or that washing machine is not made in China, it’s going to be a lot more expensive.

For the rest of Friedland’s speech: https://www.northernminer.com/news/cru-world-copper-conference-friedland-on-the-new-world-order/1003830145/