S&P study joins others pointing to looming strains on global copper supply in the EV era.

A study conducted by S&P Global and funded in part by copper producers warns of a potential growing mismatch between available copper supply and future demand resulting from energy sector transition away from fossil fuels.

The study, titled “The Future of Copper: Will the Looming Supply Gap Short-circuit the Energy Transition?” was researched and prepared by New York City-based S&P Global and, according to the firm, was supported by several multinational mining and metals firms, including  Anglo American plc; Antofagasta plc; BHP Ltd.; Compania de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A.; Freeport-McMoRan Inc; Glencore plc; Ivanhoe Mines Ltd; Rio Tinto Corp.; Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd; Taseko Mines Ltd.; Teck Resources Ltd.; Lundin Mining Co.; Trafigura Group Pte. Ltd.; and Vale Limited Mining Co.

S&P predicts global copper demand could nearly double during the next decade, from 25 million metric tons annually now to about 50 million metric tons in 2035. The added copper would be needed “to deploy the technologies critical to achieving net-zero [carbon emissions] by 2050 goals.”

The study is not the first to tie added copper demand to the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and alternative energy technology. Earlier this year, an analyst with CME warned of mined copper supply that was lagging future demand projections. Last year a study by consultancy Wood Mackenzie looked at the impact of copper demand based on EV growth in China alone, and in 2017, research firm IDTechEx and the International Copper Association (ICA) tied the predicted growth in global EV sales to a spike in copper demand

Copper scrap is far more often recycled instead of being discarded, but investments are being made to boost copper recycling, nonetheless. In North America, two German-based companies, Aurubis and Wieland, are among those investing in new copper scrap conversion capacity.

The record-high level of demand would be sustained and continue to grow to 53 million metric tons in 2050. S&P calls that figure "more than all the copper consumed in the world between 1900 and 2021.”

The demand surge would be driven, in large part, by the rapid, large-scale deployment of technologies such as EVs, charging infrastructure, solar energy, wind and batteries. “More copper intensive than their conventional counterparts, demand from these areas would nearly triple by 2035,” S&P says. “At the same time, copper demand from traditional sources not directly related to the energy transition would continue to grow.”

“Copper is the metal of electrification and absolutely essential to the energy transition,” says Daniel Yergin, vice chair of S&P Global. “Given the global consensus for net-zero emissions by 2050, it is critical to understand the physical materials required for achieving that ambition. The world has never produced so much copper in such a short timeframe as would be required. On current trends, the doubling of global copper demand by 2035 would result in significant shortfalls.”

S&P says growth in new copper supply capacity—from new mines or expansions of existing projects—would unlikely be able to keep pace with the surge in demand. That leaves increases in capacity utilization (output as a percentage of an existing mine's total capacity) and recycling as the main sources of additional supply, according to the study.

Under current trends—whereby both capacity utilization and recycling rates remain at their current 10-year global average—one of the study’s scenarios projects annual supply shortfalls that could reach nearly 10 million metric tons in 2035. That is equivalent to 20 percent of the demand projected to be required for a 2050 net-zero world.

“This comprehensive analysis demonstrates that, even at the outer edge of what could happen in copper mining and refining operations, there would not be enough supply to meet the demands of a net-zero-emissions-by-2050 world,” says Mohsen Bonakdarpour of S&P Global Market Intelligence. “Even strong price signals and incentivizing policy initiatives, aggressive capacity utilization rates and all-time high recycling rates would not be enough to close the gap.”

The study also posits that the burgeoning supply gap would exacerbate a reliance on copper imports in the United States. Imports made up nearly 44 percent of U.S. copper usage in 2021—up from just 10 percent in 1995. Under the study’s scenarios, that share would rise to between 57 and 67 percent by 2035.

The full study can be found here.

Canadian scrap firm adds locations once operated by Milman Industries.

Brampton, Ontario-based Triple M Metal LP has announced the acquisition of BM Metal Services Inc. and North Bay Salvage from Sudbury, Ontario-based Milman Industries Inc.

The acquisition includes three recycling facilities in the Sudbury area and another in North Bay, Ontario.

“We are extremely proud to welcome the scrap division of BM Metals and North Bay Salvage into the Triple M Metal family,” says Steve Leddy, president of Triple M. “Adding these reputable and well-established businesses into the Triple M portfolio reflects our organization’s commitment to offer to our customers and suppliers best-in-class services.”

Triple M Metal, part of the Giampaolo Group, has been growing in scale for the past several decades. It now has 35 facilities in Canada and the United States and operates shredders, stationary and mobile shears, ferrous and nonferrous balers, a copper and aluminum insulated granulation system and what it calls a state-of-the-art downstream (mixed shredded metals) separator. Its processing capacity allows it to handle more than 4 million tons of metallic scrap annually, the firm says.

Crushing equipment maker adds Rock & Recycling Equipment LLC to its dealer stable.

Lippmann (formerly Lippmann Milwaukee) has announced that Sutton, Massachusetts-based Rock & Recycling Equipment LLC (Rock & Recycling) is its new dealer for New England, with the firm’s territory including Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Vermont.

Rock & Recycling will represent all Lippmann crushing, screening and stacking equipment in that territory, says Lippmann. The equipment maker describes Rock & Recycling as a “full-service dealer with the experience and expertise to assist customers in putting together the right Lippmann equipment to meet their specific site needs in both aggregate and recycle applications.”

The firm is headed by managing partners Shane Fleming and Brendan Fox. Lippmann also cites Product Support Manage Dan Donoghue and his team of six people as critical to the parts and service support reputation of Rock & Recycling.

Lippmann also has announced modifications to its logo and some other aspects of its branding, including a new tagline, “Legendary Crushing Systems,” which the firm says pays homage to its “historic run and industry reputation.”

A video about the rebranding can be found on YouTube. 

The organization says the legislation would impose a new surtax of 8 percent on all forms of income, including family businesses.

The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Arlington, Virginia, joined other organizations in a letter to congressional leaders urging them to oppose the expansion of the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) in reconciliation legislation.  

NIIT is a 3.8-percent tax on investment income that usually only applies to high-income taxpayers. It also may apply to estates, families, individuals and trusts that meet certain tax income thresholds. Generally, this includes interest, dividends, capital gains, rental and royalty income and nonqualified annuities, according to the Internal Revenue Service.  

The expansion would include the 3.8-percent tax to income earned by pass-through businesses, generally small businesses, over $400,000 annually.  

The letter was signed by groups like the Plastics Industry Association, American Bankers Association and the Tire Industry Association. The group says the expansion would expand the 3.8-percent Net Investment Income Tax to individuals and families members who participate in their business. It would also limit the ability of small, individually and family-owned businesses to fully deduct their losses during an economic downturn by expanding and extending the excess business loss limitation for noncorporate taxpayers.  

The group says while expanding the NIIT is sometimes characterized as closing a tax loophole and that it would increase Medicare funding, neither of these claims is true. When the NIIT was created as part of the Affordable Care Act, it was meant to apply to investment income only. The business income of small, individually and family-owned firms where the owners ran the business was exempted and does not constitute a loophole.   

Furthermore, attributing the revenues raised by its expansion to Medicare would likely violate the Byrd Rule, the Senate budget rule for determining what can be included in a reconciliation bill and what cannot, according to the letter.  

“Raising taxes on small and family-owned businesses with the economy on the brink of a recession, a situation which is compounded by the other post-pandemic challenges they are facing, harms not only these businesses but the families and communities who rely on them,” says NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith. “We urge Congress to reject these tax increases and support policies that encourage investment and job creation.” 

Robert Chomicki, owner of Riverside Hauling, allegedly arranged for the company to pay less than required when dumping waste at a WM-owned transfer station.

The owner of a New York-based hauling company is facing federal indictment related to his business operations, reports the Westchester Journal News.

Robert Chomicki, 60, of Briarcliff Manor, allegedly arranged for his company—Riverside Hauling—to pay less than it was supposed to when dumping waste at a Yonkers transfer station between April 2019 and June 2020. According to court documents, he plead not guilty and was released on a $250,000 bond following his indictment on wire fraud charges.

Riverside Hauling, which is licensed by the Westchester Solid Waste Commission, provides container rental for generators of construction and demolition debris and then hauls it to transfer stations.

Although Chomicki is facing federal charges, the Journal News reports the company has not been charged and continues to operate.

The transfer station, A1 Compaction Inc., is owned by Houston-based WM. WM, formerly Waste Management, told Waste Today in an email that it cannot provide comment on the matter as it is a pending criminal investigation.