Refined Copper Output Stagnated During Jan-Oct ’17

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The January 2018 Copper Bulletin published by the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) presents the preliminary data for world copper supply and demand for the month of October 2017.

Market Balance

As per data, the world refined copper market balance ended in a deficit of nearly 175,000 t during the initial ten months of the previous year, mainly due to the stagnant growth in world refined copper supply.

Refined Copper Output

The world refined copper production remained essentially unchanged during Jan-Oct ’17. The primary production declined by 2% during this period, whereas the secondary production increased considerably by 9%. The key contributors to world refined copper output growth were China and India. The Indian refined production surged higher by 7%, whereas Chinese production was up by 5% over the previous year. The rise in production was largely offset by 8% decline in output in Chile. The output by the US and Japan too dropped sharply by 10% and 4% respectively during Jan-Oct ’17.

Region wise, refined output by Asia and the Europe increased by 4.0% and 4.5% respectively. The output by the Oceania region dropped sharply by 10%, whereas the Americas’ and African production tumbled by 8% and 2% respectively.

Copper Mine Production

The world copper mine production has declined by nearly 2.6% during the first ten months of 2017.

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Chile’s copper mine output declined by 2%. Also, concentrate production by Argentina declined sharply by 55%., whereas Canada and Mongolia recorded production decline of 17% each. The Indonesian concentrate output too was down by 15%. The US reported an output decline of 12%. The reduction in output by the above countries was partially offset by production increases in Kazakhstan and Peru. Kazakhstan reported biggest jump of 32%. The other major contributors of world copper mine output growth were Brazil, Mexico, Myanmar, Spain and Sweden.

Copper Consumption

The global copper usage is estimated to have increased modestly by 0.2% during Jan-Oct ‘17. The growth in usage of refined copper was constrained by improved scrap supply across the world. The largest copper consuming country-China reported stagnant growth in consumption. However, world countries excluding China registered 0.4% jump in apparent metal usage. The usage increased in other major copper consuming countries such as India and Japan. On the other hand, usage reported declines in the United States, Germany and South Korea.