Trafigura: Metals supply chains are becoming more connected
- Nearly half of global metals production is now traded across borders.
- Trafigura-traded minerals travelled more than 80 million kilometres last year, almost 2,000 times around the world.
- More than $1 trillion is expected to be invested in data centres in 2026, roughly ten times the capex of the world’s 100 largest miners last year.
- Trafigura has deployed $7 billion of capital over the past three years to help build metals and minerals supply.
Shifting demand
New strategic industries—electric vehicles, solar, wind, batteries and now artificial intelligence—have reshaped metals consumption patterns. Demand growth is no longer concentrated in China: consumption outside China is growing two to three times faster, increasing the need for cross‑border trade.
Scale of trade
Despite policy pushes for more local production and shorter supply chains, nearly half of global metals output is traded internationally. Trafigura's volumes illustrate the scale: minerals it traded covered over 80 million kilometres in the past year.
Above‑ground constraints and supply strain
Key risks are increasingly above ground—permitting, infrastructure, community relations, taxation, export restrictions and conflict. Underinvestment is evident in some metals: zinc mine production is lower than in 2015, constraining smelters and affecting byproducts such as germanium and indium that serve energy, technology and security markets.
Investing across the ecosystem
To address complexity, Trafigura says it is investing across the metals ecosystem. It reports $7 billion deployed over three years and cites projects including support for a 200‑km, 700‑MW transmission line to the Copperbelt, participation in the 1,300‑km Lobito Atlantic Railway (rail volumes up 60% year‑to‑date), a new metals storage facility in Chile, and a term sheet for a 300,000 tpa primary aluminium smelter in Egypt.
Navigating complexity
The company frames these investments as enabling buyers and sellers to manage complex, geographically dispersed supply chains while securing the supply needed by strategic industries.
Source: Trafigura