According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), 7.5 per cent of new cars sold in the EU car market in the second quarter of this year were purely electric, compared with 2.7 per cent three years ago in 2018. The electric car segment is also growing steadily globally: in 2020, their share was 13 percent compared to 8 percent in 2019.
These trends all significantly increase the demand for metals needed to make cars, such as lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, rare earths, aluminum, or copper. Tens of kilos, or sometimes even hundreds of kilos of metal are needed to make batteries, especially aluminum, which makes up half the weight of the battery, followed by copper, graphite, and nickel.
The case of copper is also interesting: it is essential for the manufacture of batteries, but it is also used by electronics suppliers, who have to build a new network to adapt to the energy needs of electric vehicles. Coface expects the prices of nickel, aluminum and copper to increase by 34, 25 and 47 per cent respectively in 2021 compared to the previous year’s level, and demand will also increase significantly between 2020 and 2050.
The main producers of these highly sought-after metals are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Australia, Indonesia, Chile and Russia, and the governments of these countries have begun to review their mining regulations to increase their profits and protect local communities. strengthen environmental rules.