Chile's Antofagasta expects global copper demand from clean transport to increase tenfold by 2030.
Current copper demand from electric vehicles (EVs) of 200,000t could increase to around 2mn t by 2030, Antofagasta chief executive Ivan Arriagada said.
Arriagada said he expects Antofagasta to increase copper production by 3pc this year despite recent strike activity at the Los Pelambres mine in Chile.
Negotiations with the Los Pelambres workforce are continuing and the company is looking to reach a fair outcome that preserves the competitiveness of Antofagasta's business and is "not contemplating cutting back on benefits".
Antofagasta's copper production fell by 0.7pc to 704,300t last year and its production guidance for this year is unchanged at 705,000-740,000t.
The company is optimistic on the short-term outlook for the copper market and estimates that demand will increase by 3pc because of tight market conditions in 2018, Arriagada said.
He added that because of declining copper grades, "an equivalent of a mid-sized mine is taken out of production every year despite everyone continuing production".
There is significant potential for supply disruptions this year because of failed labour negotiations in Chile and Peru, while constraints imposed on certain categories of scrap imports to China may also affect the market.
Three-month London-based metals exchange LME copper traded at $7,051/t on 14 March, up from $6,916/t a week earlier.
