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Copper prices have hit record highs, but smelters face mounting strategic pressures
copper Copper markets enter uncharted territory as structural and short-term pressures converge Copper prices have surged to record highs this year, briefly exceeding USD 14 500 per tonne (intraday) in January 2026, having only passed USD 12 000 per tonne for the first time in December 2025. The unprecedented price levels have been driven by some important short-term developments, including supply disruptions at several major mines and a build-up of US copper inventories due to tariff uncertainty. But they have also been underpinned by some underlying factors, such as challenges in developing new copper mines and the…
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What Next for the Global Car Industry Executive summary
Fundamental shifts are reshaping global car markets The car industry is undergoing profound changes as electric car sales continue to rise and the geography of global car sales shifts. Global car sales approached 80 million in 2024 and have largely bounced back from their pandemic-related slump. Recent growth has been exclusively driven by sales of electric and hybrid cars, which made up around 30% of total car sales in 2024, while global sales of pure internal combustion engine (ICE) cars peaked in 2017 and have since fallen by 30%. By contrast, electric car sales grew more than 14-fold over…
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Global Energy Review 2025
Global Energy Review 2025 This edition of the Global Energy Review is the first comprehensive depiction of the trends that took place in 2024 across the entire energy sector, covering data for all fuels and technologies, all regions and major countries, and energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The latest data show that the world’s appetite for energy rose at a faster-than-average pace in 2024, resulting in higher demand for all energy sources, including oil, natural gas, coal, renewables and nuclear power. This growth was led by the power sector, with demand for electricity rising almost twice…
- Key findings
- Global trends
- Oil
- Natural gas
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+ 3 pages
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Competitiveness
Multiple benefits of Energy Efficiency 2025 Energy efficiency provides multiple benefits. This page explores competitiveness. Why is energy efficiency important for competitiveness? Increasing energy efficiency can improve competitiveness at both the firm level – by reducing costs, improving operations and increasing product value – and at the country level, by reducing the amount of energy required to produce economic output. Key facts Today the world’s industries produce nearly 20% more value added with a given amount of energy, compared with two decades ago. In the industrial sector, energy management can lead to more than 10% in annual energy cost savings within…
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World Energy Investment 2025 Middle East
The Middle East is rich in a wide range of energy resources, which it is looking to develop with a mix of foreign and domestic sources of investment The Middle East holds some of the lowest-cost oil and gas resources in the world, and in 2024 provided around 30% of global oil production and 17% of global natural gas production. Saudi Arabia’s upstream oil and gas investment is the highest in the region, and is set to reach about USD 40 billion in 2025, nearly 15% higher than in 2015. Overall, the Middle East is set to invest about USD 130 billion…
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Electricity Market Design
Building on strengths, addressing gaps Electricity markets play a central role in balancing supply and demand, guiding operational decisions and shaping investment outcomes. As systems change with higher shares of variable generation, greater decentralisation and evolving patterns of electricity use, the ability of market designs to deliver secure and affordable electricity has never been more critical. If market arrangements do not keep pace with these developments, the functioning of electricity systems could become more uncertain and more costly.This report provides a cross-regional assessment of how wholesale electricity markets and their complementary policy mechanisms are performing today. We find…
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China’s Official Energy Finance in Emerging and Developing Economies Case studies
China’s outbound energy engagement spans a wide range of technologies, financing structures and institutional actors. While aggregate trends reveal a system that is becoming more diversified, risk-sensitive and commercially oriented, the specific pathways through which Chinese capital supports energy transitions in EMDE become clearer when examined at the project level.The following case studies illustrate this diversity in practice, from large-scale renewable deployment and grid modernisation to industrial decarbonisation, equity participation in regional infrastructure platforms and upstream resource development. Together, they show how different parts of China’s official financing system interact with local conditions, how technical…
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Energy Efficiency 2024 How is the dumping of inefficient equipment affecting efficiency progress?
Differing regulatory frameworks open the door to inefficient equipment dumping The efficiency of appliances available for purchase varies substantially across different markets globally. IEA market data shows that between emerging markets alone the differences are very large. For example, the median efficiency of air conditioners in the sub-Saharan Africa region is only 3.1 W/W, while it is 4.7 in Southeast Asia, close to the 5‑6.5 W/W the NZE Scenario foresees by 2030. At the same time, household budgets for the purchase and use of appliances differ strongly due to global wealth and income inequalities. The result…
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Ivo Walinga
China Programme Officer.
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Electricity Mid-Year Update 2025 Supply: Renewables grow the most, followed by gas and nuclear
As highlighted in our annual Electricity 2025 report, low-emissions energy sources are reaching new milestones globally in our forecast period. Renewables are poised to surpass coal-fired generation, depending on weather trends and economic developments, either as early as 2025 or in 2026. As a result, coal’s share in total generation is set to drop below 33% for the first time in the last 100 years.Solar PV and wind energy are key drivers of this trend, with their combined share in global electricity generation expected to rise from 15% in 2024 to 17% in 2025 and to above…
