BHP Predicts a Structural Copper Deficit from 2028
Vandita Pant, the Chief Financial Officer at BHP, believes that the international copper market could enter a sustained supply deficit from the year 2028. This comes with the increase in annual supply needed by the middle of the 2030s to satisfy growing consumption. Speaking at the recently held FT Metals and Mining Summit in London, Pant explained that the shortfall would be equivalent to the output of eight to ten mines comparable in size to the Escondida mine. Escondida, located in Chile, is currently the biggest producer of the red metal globally. Declining production from existing deposits is already putting…