The world’s largest copper producer, Chile’s state-owned mining company Codelco, issued a warning on Thursday.

Predicting that eight million metric tons of the metal may be in short supply by 2032 as rising demand outpaces the number of new projects.

A short-term surplus is anticipated due to new projects in Chile, Peru the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and China’s Tibet region ut in the medium to long term, demand will outpace supply.

According to Pacheco’s estimates base on Codelco studies, the demand for the orange metal will increase from 25 million metric tonnes to slightly over 31 million metric tonnes in 2032.

Copper Industry Need to “Invest $100 billion”

According to experts, the copper sector will need to invest more than $100 billion in new mines to close a potential 4.7 million tonnes yearly supply gap by 2030.

The asset can generate with over 300,000 tonnes of copper annually and is believed to have proved and probable reserves of 3.1 billion tonnes.

From 120,000 – 160,000 metric tons of copper are anticipated to be produced by the facility in 2022. With the first ten years of full production averaging 300,000 tonnes per year.

The largest new copper mine in Peru since MMG’s Las Bambas in 2016 would be Quellaveco.