英国电信集团BT靠出售旧铜缆获得20亿英镑收益

英国电信集团BT与回收公司EMR的合作协议正在帮助其从大规模光纤网络升级中获得巨额收益。1BT已获得9900万英镑的首付款，预计在未来十年内可获得超过20亿英镑的收入。1这一收益增长得益于全球铜价的历史高位，铜价在近期创下每吨14,294美元的收盘纪录，盘中最高曾达14,500美元。1

BT正在向3000万户家庭推广全光纤宽带，这一过程中产生了大量可回收的旧铜缆。1根据前向销售协议，BT将在每个四年期交付约20,000吨铜。1截至3月的年度中，BT回收了近10,000吨铜，较2024年同期增长三倍。1自2023年开始向EMR出售以来，BT共回收了22,347吨铜。1其旗下的Openreach预计可从旧基础设施中回收约200,000吨高品质铜。1

全球铜需求的持续增长为这笔交易提供了长期支撑。1根据S&P Global的预测，全球铜需求将从现在的2500万吨增长至2035年的约5000万吨。1此外，Openreach在2024年的铜缆盗窃事件中报告了30%的下降，这得益于SelectaDNA防盗技术的部署。1

British telecommunications company BT is on track to secure substantial financial returns by recycling outdated copper cabling as it deploys fiber-optic networks across the country. Through a partnership with recycling firm EMR, BT has already received an initial payment of £99 million and anticipates generating over £2 billion in revenue over the next decade.1 The windfall is bolstered by copper prices reaching historic highs, with the metal trading at $14,294 per tonne on Friday and peaking at $14,500 during intraday trading this year, driven largely by surging demand from artificial intelligence data centers.1

The recycling initiative is integral to BT's broader infrastructure modernization strategy. As the company rolls out full-fiber broadband to approximately 30 million households, it expects to recover roughly 200,000 tonnes of high-quality copper from old cables.1 Under forward-sale agreements with EMR, BT commits to delivering approximately 20,000 tonnes of copper per four-year period.1 In the year ending March, BT recovered nearly 10,000 tonnes of copper, triple the volume from the same period in 2024, bringing its cumulative recovery to 22,347 tonnes since beginning the disposal process in 2023.1 The copper reclaimed during 2023 averaged $8,500 per tonne.1

This commercial opportunity reflects broader global trends in copper consumption. Industry analysts project global copper demand will roughly double from the current 25 million tonnes to approximately 50 million tonnes by 2035.1 Additionally, BT's subsidiary Openreach has reported a 30 percent decline in copper cable theft incidents in 2024, attributed to the deployment of SelectaDNA anti-theft technology.1