Nexans (NEX.PA), a French company that makes electrical wiring and cables, says that the switch from copper to aluminum is inevitable.
Its corporate purchasing director, Christophe Allain, told the CRU Group’s World Copper Conference in April that “the switch will come; the big question is when and what size it will be.”
As Nexans told the Financial Times, one reason is that aluminum cables currently cost about 40% less than copper ones – even though more insulation is required for aluminum cabling.
For countries in the developing world that are still building out a power grid, that price difference is a huge deal.
Panos Kotseras on 12 Nov 09According to the China Nonferrous Processing Industry Conference, copper products output in China increased by one million tonnes annually in the past three years. Data released showed that production amounted to 5.3 million tonnes in 2006, 6.3 million tonnes in 2007 and 7.5 million tonnes in 2008. It was reported that Chinese output accounted for 30%, 40% and 50% of world output in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively. In addition, the General Administration of Customs said that Chinese copper imports in October reached 263,000 tonnes, an increase of 14% y-o-y. However, on a m-o-m basis the figure contracted by 34%.
