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Electric Vehicles Drive up Metals Demand

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The Briefing

  • Electric vehicle sales were down 25% at the start of the pandemic but demand is bouncing back
  • Demand growth from the EV industry is expected to increase as much as 14x by 2030 for certain key metals used in EV production

Electric Vehicles Drive up Metals Demand

Electric vehicle (EV) sales were abruptly interrupted in 2020 due to COVID-19.

However, the consumer base for these cars isn’t going away any time soon. EVs are becoming increasingly popular thanks to higher environmental awareness, falling costs, and ever-improving infrastructure.

Demand for Metals on the Rise

Demand from the EV industry for key metals is on a swift upward trajectory.

Copper, nickel, and lithium are some of the key metals required for EV battery production. As a result, demand growth for nickel from EVs is expected to increase 14 times between 2019-2030. Lithium and copper are expected to experience a growth in demand of 9-10x.

MetalExpected Demand Growth Increase to 2030 in the EV Industry
Nickel14x
Aluminum14x
Phosphorus13x
Iron13x
Copper10x
Graphite10x
Lithium9x
Cobalt3x
Manganese3x

Many of these raw materials come from low to lower middle-income countries and are essential to their economies. For example, around 50% of the world’s cobalt, another key material for EV manufacturing, is found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Investors and mining companies stand to gain from this increased demand for EVs.

What’s Driving Demand?

As consumer awareness increases around climate change and demand shifts away from the oil and gas industry, the demand for EVs grows immensely. According to some estimates, EVs are expected to make up over half of all passenger vehicle sales by 2040.

Additionally, many governments have committed to the production of EVs in a bid to decrease their dependency on fossil fuels. China, for example, has a goal of having EVs make up 20% of new car sales by 2025.

Tesla is leading the momentum among manufacturers and investors clearly see the opportunity, having driven up Tesla’s shares by over 1,000% since March 2020. But there are other up-and-coming players in the EV market like NIO in China, as well as traditional car makers that are shifting their focus to EVs.

Where does this data come from?

Source: Bloomberg NEF

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Economy

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Public trust in the Federal Reserve chair has hit its lowest point in 20 years. Get the details in this infographic.

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The Briefing

  • Gallup conducts an annual poll to gauge the U.S. public’s trust in the Federal Reserve
  • After rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, public trust has fallen to a 20-year low

 

Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve

Each year, Gallup conducts a survey of American adults on various economic topics, including the country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve.

More specifically, respondents are asked how much confidence they have in the current Fed chairman to do or recommend the right thing for the U.S. economy. We’ve visualized these results from 2001 to 2023 to see how confidence levels have changed over time.

Methodology and Results

The data used in this infographic is also listed in the table below. Percentages reflect the share of respondents that have either a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence.

YearFed chair% Great deal or Fair amount
2023Jerome Powell36%
2022Jerome Powell43%
2021Jerome Powell55%
2020Jerome Powell58%
2019Jerome Powell50%
2018Jerome Powell45%
2017Janet Yellen45%
2016Janet Yellen38%
2015Janet Yellen42%
2014Janet Yellen37%
2013Ben Bernanke42%
2012Ben Bernanke39%
2011Ben Bernanke41%
2010Ben Bernanke44%
2009Ben Bernanke49%
2008Ben Bernanke47%
2007Ben Bernanke50%
2006Ben Bernanke41%
2005Alan Greenspan56%
2004Alan Greenspan61%
2003Alan Greenspan65%
2002Alan Greenspan69%
2001Alan Greenspan74%

Data for 2023 collected April 3-25, with this statement put to respondents: “Please tell me how much confidence you have [in the Fed chair] to recommend the right thing for the economy.”

We can see that trust in the Federal Reserve has fluctuated significantly in recent years.

For example, under Alan Greenspan, trust was initially high due to the relative stability of the economy. The burst of the dotcom bubble—which some attribute to Greenspan’s easy credit policies—resulted in a sharp decline.

On the flip side, public confidence spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was likely due to Jerome Powell’s decisive actions to provide support to the U.S. economy throughout the crisis.

Measures implemented by the Fed include bringing interest rates to near zero, quantitative easing (buying government bonds with newly-printed money), and emergency lending programs to businesses.

Confidence Now on the Decline

After peaking at 58%, those with a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the Fed chair have tumbled to 36%, the lowest number in 20 years.

This is likely due to Powell’s hard stance on fighting post-pandemic inflation, which has involved raising interest rates at an incredible speed. While these rate hikes may be necessary, they also have many adverse effects:

  • Negative impact on the stock market
  • Increases the burden for those with variable-rate debts
  • Makes mortgages and home buying less affordable

Higher rates have also prompted many U.S. tech companies to shrink their workforces, and have been a factor in the regional banking crisis, including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Where does this data come from?

Source: Gallup (2023)

Data Notes: Results are based on telephone interviews conducted April 3-25, 2023, with a random sample of –1,013—adults, ages 18+, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on this sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. See source for details.

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