Foreign media reported on October 4 that according to BloombergNEF (BNEF)'s annual transition metal outlook, the mining industry will need $2.1 trillion in new investments by 2050 to meet the raw material needs of a net zero emissions world. Despite a decade of growth in metal supply, BNEF reported that current raw material supply is still insufficient to meet growing demand. The report emphasizes that key energy transition metals including aluminum, copper and lithium may face supply shortages this decade, and some as early as this year. The pace of demand growth will vary by region. For example, in China, consumption between 2020 and 2023 exceeded the global average, but the country's demand for energy transition metals is expected to peak in 2030. (Translated by Shanghai Metal Network)

　　Southeast Asia is expected to be the fastest-growing market for these metals in the 2030s. Under BNEF’s Economic Transformation Scenario (ETS), which assumes no new policy support and is driven by the cost competitiveness of technology, the world may need 3 billion tonnes of metals between 2024 and 2050 to support low-carbon solutions such as electric vehicles, wind turbines and electrolyzers. This figure could rise to 6 billion tonnes by 2050 to achieve net zero emissions. Recycling can help alleviate some of the pressure, and BNEF predicts that secondary energy output will become an integral part of the metal supply chain in the energy transition.