Top Industries purchasing Copper (Cu)
Major Individual Company Purchasers
Caution: This content was sourced and arranged by AI and thus may be subject to errors, biases, omissions, or antiquation.
This information can provide a general sense of industry dynamics, but may be unreliable in its specifics, or as an isolated basis for investment decisions.
| Rank | Industry | Metric Tons (Est.) | Percent Usage | Primary Applications |
| 1 | Building & Construction | 8,265,000 | 29.0% | Electrical wiring, plumbing, roofing, and cladding. |
| 2 | Electrical Networks (Grid) | 4,560,000 | 16.0% | Power transmission lines, transformers, and busbars. |
| 3 | Automotive (EV & ICE) | 3,705,000 | 13.0% | EV motors, battery foil, wiring harnesses, and charging. |
| 4 | Industrial Machinery | 3,135,000 | 11.0% | Motors, heat exchangers, and industrial pumps. |
| 5 | Consumer Electronics | 2,565,000 | 9.0% | Circuit boards, connectors, and smartphone components. |
| 6 | HVAC & Refrigeration | 1,995,000 | 7.0% | Heat exchanger tubes, coils, and refrigerant piping. |
| 7 | Renewable Energy (Solar) | 1,140,000 | 4.0% | Cabling, inverters, and grounding strips. |
| 8 | Renewable Energy (Wind) | 855,000 | 3.0% | Generators, nacelle wiring, and subsea cables. |
| 9 | Telecommunications | 570,000 | 2.0% | Data centers, 5G base stations, and legacy cabling. |
| 10 | Appliance Manufacturing | 427,500 | 1.5% | Motors for washers, dryers, and small appliances. |
| 11 | Rail Transportation | 285,000 | 1.0% | Catenary wires, traction motors, and signaling. |
| 12 | Marine Industry | 228,000 | 0.8% | Anti-fouling hulls, propellers, and seawater piping. |
| 13 | Defense & Munitions | 199,500 | 0.7% | Shell casings, missile guidance, and naval wiring. |
| 14 | Aerospace | 142,500 | 0.5% | Avionics, instrumentation, and airframe wiring. |
| 15 | Medical Technology | 114,000 | 0.4% | MRI machines, antimicrobial surfaces, and imaging. |
| 16 | Coinage & Currency | 85,500 | 0.3% | Circulating coins and commemorative medals. |
| 17 | Chemicals & Agriculture | 85,500 | 0.3% | Copper sulfate for fungicides and animal feed. |
| 18 | Decorative Arts/Jewelry | 57,000 | 0.2% | Bronze sculpture, brass musical instruments, jewelry. |
| 19 | Oil & Gas (Downstream) | 57,000 | 0.2% | Heat exchangers and instrumentation in refineries. |
| 20 | Printing (Lithography) | 28,500 | 0.1% | Specialized copper plates and conductive inks. |
Major Individual Company Purchasers
- State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC): The world’s largest utility company and the single biggest purchaser of copper wire and cable.
- Tesla, Inc.: A massive purchaser of copper for EV motor windings and lithium-ion battery foils (an EV uses roughly 4x more copper than an internal combustion car).
- Sumitomo Electric Industries: A global leader in wire and cable manufacturing; they buy massive quantities of copper cathode to produce automotive harnesses and power cables.
- Prysmian Group: The world's largest cable manufacturer (Italy-based), consuming millions of tons of copper for subsea and energy grid projects.
- Nexans: A French global player in the cable industry, focused heavily on the renewable energy transition and subsea interconnectors.
- Apple Inc.: A major purchaser of high-purity copper foil and connectors for its global consumer electronics supply chain.
- General Electric (GE): Consumes vast amounts of copper for its Power and Renewable Energy divisions (wind turbines and grid equipment).
- Schneider Electric: A major buyer for electrical distribution equipment, circuit breakers, and building automation systems.
- BYD Auto: As the world's largest EV manufacturer by volume; a dominant force in the Asian copper market for battery and motor components.
- Luvata: A specialized manufacturer that buys copper to produce high-tech components for MRI machines, particle accelerators, and solar ribbons.
Caution: This content was sourced and arranged by AI and thus may be subject to errors, biases, omissions, or antiquation.
This information can provide a general sense of industry dynamics, but may be unreliable in its specifics, or as an isolated basis for investment decisions.