Data Center Demand to Exacerbate Copper Shortage, BNEF Says
A worker moves copper bars, used by data centers and electric vehicle manufacturers, off a line at a facility in Rome, New York.
Photographer: Lauren Petracca/BloombergRobust demand growth from data centers is expected to accelerate a potential supply shortage in the global copper market in the second half of this decade, with the shortfall likely reaching 6 million tons by 2035, according to BloombergNEF.
More copper is needed in the buildout of artificial intelligence data centers just as supply of the metal — a key component in everything from plumbing to power cables to electric vehicles — is constrained due to years of underinvestment, BNEF analysts said in a report Tuesday.