Eight billion people – especially in cities, the appetite for raw materials is growing

From 1950 to today, humanity has almost quadrupled thanks to the progress it has achieved. According to the UN, this exponential growth will mean that by 2037 there will already be 9 billion people, and by 2080 it is expected to reach as many as 10.4 billion. This population growth is the underlying driver of the raw materials boom. After all, as the number of people increases, so does the need for resources.

Humans are becoming an urban species. Cities are growing particularly rapidly in developing countries with high birth rates. In search of work, more and more people are moving to urban areas. Since 2007, more people worldwide have lived in cities than in rural areas. This trend is likely to continue: while in 1950 not even a third of the population lived in urban areas, by 2050 this ratio will in all likelihood have reversed. The problem: city dwellers consume more resources than people in rural areas.

Living in cities is driving demand for technical products. City dwellers usually want their own cell phone, washing machine and soon also an electric car. In addition, commodities are needed for the expansion of the G5 and later the G6 network, as well as lines for the internet. According to the International Telecommunication Union, five billion people, or around 63% of the world’s population, use the internet. The high demand for commodities should therefore continue for quite some time.

For our planet to be able to support 10 billion people at all, we must succeed in switching from coal, oil and gas to renewable energies. Last year, 38 billion tons of greenhouse gases were emitted worldwide. This cannot continue. The switch to the energy metals indium, gallium, germanium and neodymium oxide, which are used in the production of solar and wind power, is therefore already a done deal. However, no one yet knows how to procure such a quantity of commodities quickly enough. For the energy transition to succeed, there is still a lack of 300 billion euros in investment commitments in the production capacities of the required metals – by 2030 alone! In addition, the monopoly for these commodities lies with a handful of autocratically governed countries. Over 90% of rare earths and around 70% of technology metals are still produced in China.

We remain optimistic. By storing technology metals and rare earths, we support the security of supply for European industry, especially those producing “green” energy. We also offer investors a strong product, including tax-free storage and tax-free sale, as well as safeguarding the investment asset in line with the highest security standards to date. Attractive returns are to be expected in any case!