Refined Copper Market Culminated in Deficit Until November

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) has released its February 2021 Copper Bulletin, which provides preliminary data for November 2020.

In accordance with the data provided by ICSG, the world copper mine production dropped marginally by nearly 0.2% in the initial eleven-month period of 2020. The concentrate production has increased by 0.4%, whereas the SX-EW output has declined by about 2.2%.

Chile-the world’s largest copper mine producing country saw its output remain more or less unchanged, following a 2.5% surge in the first six months, followed by 2.9% dip in July-November 2020. The adverse weather conditions and operational issues at major mines, coupled with Covid-19 disruptions led to 13.5% decline in mine output in Peru. Other major copper-producing countries including Australia, Mexico and the U.S. too witnessed reduced output.

The Indonesian output has surged higher significantly by 36%. The ramp up of new mines and expansions led to increased production from the DRC and Panama.

The world refined copper production increased marginally by around 1.8% in the first eleven months of 2020. The primary production soared by 2.9%, whereas the secondary production edged lower by 3.1%. The total Chilean refined output increased by 3.5%. The production in the DRC and Zambia were up by 5% and 32% respectively.

Meantime, the world apparent refined copper usage increased by around 2.5% during Jan-Nov ‘20.

The ICSG report indicates that the world refined copper market ended in apparent deficit of around 590,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020.

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