Barclays: China's Copper and Aluminum Consumption to Double in the Next 15 Years

General Electric reported on April 29 that Barclays Capital pointed out that if China follows the economic development model of its neighboring Asian countries, the consumption of aluminum and copper in China may increase to three times the current level in the next 10 to 15 years. The amount will reach unprecedented highs.

Barclays economist Gayle Berry said that the metal-intensive economic growth pattern in the early stages will continue until the per capita GDP (GDP) at the purchasing power parity level reaches 15,000 U.S. dollars, which is just over 5,000 per capita GDP. For the US dollar, this means that there is still a long way to go. Berry said that with the gradual affluence of the country, domestic demand will exert more influence on the economy than government expenditure, which will herald the intensive use of copper and aluminum. In this stage of development, the consumption of copper and aluminum is the fastest growing.

Barclays said that according to the same development period, China's use of copper is still lower than its Asian neighbors, indicating that there is still room for significant increases in China's copper prices in the future. Copper prices rose only high enough to curb demand.