The impact of artificial intelligence will also play a big role in the commodities market. In particular, demand for copper is growing rapidly, which could affect the supply of this metal and therefore its price.
The demand for copper has already increased significantly due to the course of electrification and energy transition. Now demand could experience a real “boom,” with an increase to one million tons per year between now and 2030 just to meet the needs of the development of artificial intelligence, notes the newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. It cites Saad Rahim, chief economist at Trafigura, a major international player in commodities trading.
According to Rahim, copper demand is set to reach 26 million tons in 2024, while supply is already at its limit. In this kind of scenario, AI becomes an additional factor. Until recently, this raw material remained preferred over fiber optics in various electrical applications related to artificial intelligence.
As a result, copper quotations reached a record high, exceeding $9500 per ton in London on April 9. Thus, we return to the position that existed at the beginning of the millennium, when China’s rapid industrialization drove up the price of this metal.