2026年第2期：数据中心建设及能源转型大幅拉动铜需求

1. Report Industry Investment Rating No information about the report industry investment rating is provided in the given content. 2. Core Viewpoints of the Report - Copper demand is steadily increasing and will be driven by new demand. The global annual demand is predicted to grow from about 28 million tons in 2025 to 42 million tons in 2040, a growth rate of 50%. Core economic demand, artificial intelligence, national defense, and energy transition will be the main growth points [1][5]. - Affected by supply shortages and expected demand growth, copper prices have risen significantly in recent years. Market analysts predict that short - term prices will remain strong, and long - term supply - demand gaps may push prices further up [1][7]. - The global copper supply gap is expected to widen in the future. By 2040, the supply gap may reach 10 million tons, equivalent to 23.8% of the demand [6]. 3. Summary According to the Directory I. Global Copper Supply - Demand Situation and Price Outlook Supply - Multiple research institutions expect a slight increase in copper output in the near term but a tightening in the long term. S&P Global predicts that global mine copper output will increase from about 23 million tons in 2025 to about 27 million tons in 2030 and then gradually decline to about 22 million tons in 2040 [4]. - Short - term supply shortages are due to major accidents in main copper mines, while long - term shortages are caused by declining ore grades, lagging new mine development, and insufficient investment [4]. Demand - Copper demand is growing steadily. AI has a significant impact on copper demand. For example, in 2025, over 100 new AI data center projects were launched with a total investment of nearly $61 billion. By 2030, copper demand in the data center field alone will reach 33 - 420,000 tons, and grid upgrades due to AI data centers will consume 1.1 million tons of copper annually [1][5]. Shortage - Multiple institutions predict a widening copper supply gap. For example, S&P Global predicts a 10 million - ton gap by 2040, and BloombergNEF predicts a 19 million - ton deficit by 2050 [6]. Price - Copper prices have risen significantly in recent years. Taking the LME three - month copper contract price as a benchmark, the price at the end of 2025 increased by 101.6% compared to the end of 2019. Analysts predict short - term strength and long - term price increases due to supply - demand gaps [7]. II. Copper Usage in Computing Infrastructure (1) Macro Expectations of Copper Demand in Computing - To estimate the macro - expectations of copper demand in computing, a capacity - growth - based prediction model is generally used. Different institutions have different estimates of data center capacity [8][9]. - By 2030, the total data center capacity is roughly estimated to increase by about 10GW, which may consume about 2.7 million tons of copper, accounting for about 10% of the 2024 global refined copper output [10]. - The copper intensity of data centers varies. AI - related hyperscale data centers have a copper intensity of 39 tons/MW, non - AI hyperscale data centers 36 tons/MW, and enterprise - level data centers 32 tons/MW [11]. (2) Copper Usage in Power Plant Construction and Grid Upgrades Related to Data Centers - Due to the carbon - reduction commitments of technology giants, data centers are purchasing green power, which requires the construction of energy - storage facilities and the upgrade of transmission and distribution systems [22]. - In the future 15 years, the copper consumption for global energy transition will grow at an annual rate of 4.1%, reaching 15.6 million tons per year. Among them, 7.1 million tons will be used for T&D facility upgrades, and 2.1 million tons for clean energy installation [25]. - In the T&D system, copper is mainly used in transformers, underground/subsea cables, and underground distribution lines. The copper consumption of distribution and transmission lines is expected to grow at 3.5% and 7.2% respectively from 2025 to 2040 [28][35]. - The average copper intensity of solar photovoltaic systems is about 2.2 tons/MW. The total copper demand for photovoltaic is expected to rise from about 1.2 million tons in 2025 to 1.4 million tons in 2040, with transformers being the largest copper - consuming component [36][38]. - The copper consumption structure of onshore and offshore wind power varies significantly. Offshore wind power has a much higher total copper intensity. By 2040, the new wind power capacity will require 400,000 tons of copper annually, doubling the 2025 level [42][47]. - In the battery energy storage (BESS) field, copper foil in lithium - ion batteries is a key copper - consuming component. From 2025 to 2040, the annual new installed capacity of BESS will grow at a rate of 2.7% per year, and the annual copper demand will increase from 300,000 tons in 2025 to 500,000 tons in 2040 [55]. (3) The Macro Picture of Copper Demand - Core economic demand is the traditional main body, but its growth is slowing and its proportion is declining. Energy transition and incremental demand are the fastest - growing categories, and AI and data centers are emerging demand hotspots [58][59][60].