Copper manufacturing in upstate New York supports emerging markets

Revere Copper Products in Rome, “The Copper City,” is proud of its history.

“We are 223 years old, which is a very special thing. And so we’re Paul Revere’s last remaining legacy with this copper rolling mill we have here in Rome, New York, using coated copper that’s more traditional copper,” said Amy O’Shaughnessy, vice president of sales and marketing at Revere Copper.

The copper mill supports electric vehicles, power distribution, architecture, telecommunications, air conditioning and other industries.

The demand for copper is very high right now, due, in large part, to the electrification of society.

“It could be hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles. And you think of the charging stations that are also needed for that, and all the infrastructure that you need to provide power for the charging stations and then hence the car. All that requires copper. All the renewable energy sources, the wind and solar to distribute that power. You need copper,” said O’Shaughnessy.

That growth is great for Revere Copper and other mills like it, but how about for consumers?

“What consumers should be following is what the commodity prices are doing. So whether you’re looking at the commodity price of copper, gold or silver, that’s kind of the biggest portion here. I would certainly expect that prices will go up over time as demand grows probably exponentially,” she said.

The International Energy Forum reported earlier this year that copper supply growth has been “sluggish in recent years,” pointing to recent Goldman Sachs research that found regulatory approvals for new copper mines were on a downward trend.

The program coordinator for the USGS Mineral Resources Program said companies should recycle more copper.

Copper demand is also going up due to building construction, cell phones and data centers.

Revere Copper has another facility located in North Carolina.