TPT March 2019

G LOBA L MARKE T P L AC E

that government, and instead plans to invest $850mn in an Arizona copper mine. Nevada Copper is also planning two projects near Reno, slated to begin later this year. Mr Laursen noted that an electric vehicle (EV) needs twice the copper of a car powered by an internal combustion engine. As more EVs all the time take to the streets, that much more copper must be mined. At the same time, other renewable energy technologies, from wind generators to battery storage units, also need copper to function. According to a December poll of US copper industry executives, trade war fears held back copper’s performance in 2018. One respondent told Copper Investing News that the transition to EVs, alternative energy and battery metals may slow down, but it will not stop – and copper is key to that development. The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) reported that both US and Canadian production were down last year (around 3.5 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively) relative to 2017. While European copper production was flat, the ICSG estimates that global production through to October 2018 was up 2.4 per cent – attributable to growth in Chile, the world’s leading producer, and in Indonesia, another major producer. All told, Mr Laursen wrote, the ICSG estimates there will be 8 per cent growth in US copper production over the next four years.

Republic began shutting down production at Lorain in 2015, and in 2016 the plant was idled indefinitely. According to current reporting by Carissa Woytach of the Chronicle - Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) on 22 January, the company’s plans for a restart at Lorain originated in its expectation of greater domestic demand stemming from the 25 per cent steel tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump last spring. Two earlier announcements of restart dates (in June and December 2018) were followed by postponements. Other metals The proliferation of electric vehicles sparks new interest, and investment, in copper mining in the USA Citing data from Reuters , Lucas Laursen reported in Fortune that investors have sunk $1.1bn into US copper mines, with the first new domestic copper projects in more than a decade slated to begin operations in 2020. Investment on that scale could help to reverse a long-term decline in US copper mining. (“Why US Copper Is about to Make a Big Comeback,” 24 January) The American mining company Freeport-McMoran sold its majority stake in a mine in Indonesia under pressure from

Dorothy Fabian, Features Editor (USA)

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MARCH 2019