Global Copper Market Ended in Tiny Surplus

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The trade statistics published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) indicate that global copper market recorded tiny surplus during the initial three-month period of the current year. The global copper market recorded surplus of 2.2kt during this period. This follows a deficit of 954kt recorded during the whole of year 2020.

The reported copper metal stock surged higher by 141kt, when compared with end-December 2020 levels. The LME warehouses reported net deliveries of nearly 38.0kt, The Comex stocks decreased by 4.4kt, whereas the Shanghai stocks rose by 113.3kt during the initial quarter of 2021.

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The world copper mine production during January to March this year totalled 5.16 million tonnes, slightly higher by 2.3% when compared with the year-ago period. The global refined copper output too recorded modest increase over the previous year. The refined production totalled 5.91 million tonnes, slightly higher by 2.0% when compared with January to March in 2020. The WBMS report notes that significant increases were recorded in China and India, where production rose by 199kt and 33kt respectively.

The global copper demand edged higher from 5.71 million tonnes in Jan-Mar ‘20 to 5.91 million tonnes during the first three months this year.

The monthly refined copper production totalled 1,994.9kt in March 2021, whereas the demand totalled 2,019.5kt.