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Global demand for refined copper outpaces supply

Global demand for refined copper outpaces supply
By Fridah Zinyama
Tuesday September 02, 2008 [04:00]

GLOBAL demand for refined copper outpaced supply by 155,000 metric tonnes in the first five months of this year, compared with a production deficit of around 240,000 tonnes in the same period of 2007.

According to the International Copper Study Group, on a seasonally adjusted basis the market would have shown a 31,0000-tonne surplus in the January to May period, compared to a seasonally adjusted deficit of about 80,000-tonne a year earlier.

"Lower demand by the top four users of copper (China, the EU-15, the US and Japan) continued to offset increases in usage in other parts of the world," the study group noted in a statement.

The study group stated that copper demand from the 'top four' which account for around 66 per cent of the world copper usage, decreased by 1.3 per cent year-on-year in the first five months of 2008 compared with usage in the same period of 2007, while demand in the rest of the world grew by 3.3 per cent.

"During the January to May period, world mine production fell 3.1 per cent compared with a year earlier, while concentrate production was down by 3.9 per cent," the group stated.

World production was affected mainly by lower year-on-year output in Australia, Chile, Indonesia and Mexico, where operational problems, labour issues, and adverse weather led to an aggregated drop in production of 10 per cent, or 328,000-tonne copper.

Mine production was up 17 per cent in Africa, but down in all the other regions.

The ICSG, established in 1992, is an intergovernmental organisation that aims to increase copper market transparency and promote international discussions and cooperation on issues related to copper.

Labels: COPPER

posted by MrK @ 4:52 AM