Copper consumption can be divided into three main product groups which are copper wire rod, copper products and copper alloy products.

Copper wire rod, which accounts for an estimated 62% of total global consumption (i.e., including scrap) measured in copper content terms and 74% of primary consumption, is copper's main first use. With the exception of silver and gold, copper has the highest electrical conductivity of all the metals. This helps to explain why the principal application for copper wire rod is wire and cable.

In general, wire and cable and copper products are consumed in five broad sectors: construction, electrical network infrastructure, industrial machinery and equipment, transportation equipment and consumer and general products. Of these, construction is one of the largest sectors for consuming copper, accounting for 28% of total copper consumption. The main wire and cable and copper products consumed in the construction industry include building wire, power cable, copper plumbing and air conditioning tube, copper sheet and alloy products.

The graphic below demonstrates the rising consumption forecasts by industry for copper across various end uses.

Copper tube, which accounts for around 10% of global total copper consumption, is one of the largest of the copper product markets. The two main uses are in plumbing systems and in heating, ventilation and air conditioners and refrigeration (HVACR). Other copper and copper alloy products consumed by the construction sector include copper sheet and strip, rods, bars and sections plus brass products. Copper sheet is used for roofing, eaves gutters, drain pipes for rainwater and lining for facades, while rods, bars and sections, along with brass products, are used for building fixture and fittings. In hospitals, copper and brass doorknobs and push plates are sometimes used because it has been proven that they help to reduce cross contamination.

Copper wire and copper and copper alloy products are also used in transportation equipment, copper's third largest end use category which accounts for ~12% of total copper consumption. This includes the automotive, marine, railway and aircraft/aerospace sectors. It is within the automotive sector that developments of new copper applications have been most concentrated in recent years. It is within the automotive sector that developments of new copper applications have been most concentrated in recent years. Prior to 1930, copper and brass, having excellent pressure containing and anti-corrosion characteristics, were the favored materials to be used in brake tubing. However, mass auto production in the 1940s led to the adoption of furnace-brazed steel tubing because it was much lower in cost. Although this form of tubing is still widely used today, copper has re-gained some of its lost market share through the introduction of a copper-nickel alloy (90% copper/10% nickel) which is more resistant to corrosion from road mud and salt than steel piping. Likewise, new technology has led to the development of a new brazed copper-brass automotive radiator which has the necessary requirements to recapture some of the market share displaced by aluminum over the past twenty years.

Meanwhile, 42-volt systems, hybrid and electric vehicles and numerous electrical and electronic applications provide additional growth prospects for the use of copper within the automotive sector. Over the years the number of electrical and electronic components installed per unit has been rising steadily, thereby creating the need for growth in the power and signal distribution system (otherwise known as the wiring harness). Many of the electrical components will have to be redesigned in order to work effectively with the higher-voltage systems which could result in the copper content of some of the electrical components falling, but as more power becomes available, new electrical components will emerge. Such examples include electronic valve actuation and electric braking, resulting in several kilos of copper, per unit, being added. Meanwhile, the introduction of electric and hybrid vehicles will also increase demand for copper from this sector as they typically have a much higher copper content than the traditional internal combustion engine vehicles because of the amount of copper in batteries among other components. Copper's fifth largest consuming sector, industrial machinery and equipment, accounts for ~11% of total consumption. Both copper wire and cable and semi products supply this sector which includes equipment and machinery, industrial valves and fittings, off-highway vehicles and heat exchangers.

Copper's final end-use category is the catch all category of consumer and general products. Copper consumed in this sector accounts for ~21% of total copper consumption. The three main end-uses are electrical appliances, military and civilian ordnance and coinage.

Copper is a critical component in the global transition to renewable energy and as noted above, particularly in relation to electric vehicles (EVs). Renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, fuel cells require more copper relative to conventional energy sources due to the metal's excellent conductivity. A similar comparison can be made between EVs and internal combustion engines. The graphic below outlines copper intensity by fuel type. The Cactus Mine will produce LME Grade A copper in cathode form once in production, a key component in the transition to a renewable energy future.

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