China's cathode copper industry

In the past decade, China's cathode copper industry has deeply integrated with the new energy industry, forming a two-way driving pattern of 'demand driven supply and supply created demand', promoting the upgrading of the industry from 'basic raw materials' to 'new energy core materials'. The average annual growth rate of demand for cathode copper in the new energy sector is 15%, with the proportion rising to 28% by 2024. Among them, 83 kilograms of copper are used per new energy vehicle (3.6 times that of fuel vehicles), driving copper consumption to exceed 930000 tons, an increase of nearly 4 times compared to 2020; Photovoltaic uses 3950 tons of copper per GW, offshore wind power uses 6-8 tons of copper per GW, and the demand for copper in the wind and solar field will exceed 1.8 million tons by 2024. The industry is accelerating the upgrading of high-purity copper (6N grade) and deep processing. Jiangxi Copper and Tongling Nonferrous have built a 6-meter lithium battery copper foil production line, entering the supply chain of Ningde Times and BYD. The irregular copper wire reduces the volume of new energy motors by 20% and increases power by 15%. The integration mode has been upgraded from material supply to 'smelting processing application recycling' full chain collaboration. Qinghai and Sichuan have built photovoltaic electrolysis coupling demonstration projects, with a green electricity usage ratio of 35% and a recycled copper proportion of 25%. Meanwhile, digital control has enabled the purity of cathode copper to reach 99.9999%, reducing energy consumption by 12%. By 2024, the dedicated production capacity for new energy will reach 1.5 million tons, supporting the global competitiveness of China's new energy industry.