Excerpts From ICSG August 2019 Copper Bulletin

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The preliminary data for world copper supply and demand for the month of May 2019 indicates that the market ended in modest deficit during the first five months of the year. The August 2019 Copper Bulletin published by the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) states that refined copper market balance indicates a deficit of approximately 190,000 tonnes during this period.

The world copper mine production saw a decline of nearly 1.0% during the period from January to May in 2019. The concentrate production has declined marginally by about 0.2%, whereas the SX-EW output has dropped by 3.5%. The production growth reported by many countries was offset by notable production declines in Chile and Indonesia. The output by Chile was down by 3%. Also, Indonesian concentrate production saw significant decline by approximately 55%. The production recorded increase in several other countries including DRC, Zambia, Peru, Australia, China and Mongolia.

The world refined copper output declined by around 1.0% in Jan-May ‘19. The primary production reported a decline of 1.5%, whereas the secondary production was up marginally by 1.0%. The biggest decline was seen in Chile, whose production tumbled by 37% over the previous year, followed by India with 36% drop in production year-on-year, ICSG Bulletin noted.

The apparent refined copper usage remained essentially unchanged during the initial five months of 2019, boosted by 3.5% growth in apparent usage by China. The demand did increase in India and Taiwan, but recorded decline in the EU, the U.S. and Japan.