According to foreign media on May 25, billionaire mining investor Robert Friedland said that the plunge in copper prices is a temporary setback, and the metal, which is crucial to the decarbonisation of the global economy, still faces a supply crisis.

Copper prices fell below $8,000/mt for the first time in six months on Wednesday amid weak demand.

"It's temporary," Friedland said in a television interview at the Qatar Economic Forum. "We're very, very bullish on demand."

Friedland, founder of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., expects Chinese demand to pick up in the second half of the year. He said that the world is facing a copper supply crisis, and the copper mines currently under construction are not enough to meet future demand.

Ivanhoe is seeking to develop its Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Commodities trading giant Trafigura said earlier this year that copper prices could hit record highs in 12 months, citing a rebound in the Chinese economy and supply shortages.

Kostas Bintas, co-head of Trafigura's metals and minerals division, said prices could rise to an all-time high of $10,845/mt and could even exceed $12,000/mt.

"I think we're likely to see a new high over the next 12 months," Bintas told the FT Commodity Global Summit. “What is the price of something the world needs but we don’t have?” At the World Economic Forum in January, Trafigura’s chief executive said: “If we want to reach net zero emissions by 2050, two-thirds of energy needs to come from renewable sources by 2030." In this case, we need to increase copper production by 20% per year. "

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