World Copper Market Ended 2020 in Notable Deficit

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The trade statistics published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) indicate that global copper market recorded substantial deficit during the whole-year period in 2020. The global copper market recorded notable deficit of 1,391 kt during this period. This follows a deficit of 383 kt recorded during the whole of year 2019.

The reported copper metal stock edged lower by 64 kt at the end of the previous year, in comparison with 2019 closing level. The LME warehouses reported net deliveries of nearly 38.9kt, The Comex stocks rose by 33.5 kt, whereas the Shanghai stocks were down by 48.5 kt during the year.

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World Refined Copper Market Ended in Deficit

The world copper mine production during 2020 totalled 20.79 million tonnes, more or less unchanged when compared with the year before that. The global refined copper output too recorded modest increase over the previous year. The refined production totalled 23.94 million tonnes, higher by 2.0% when compared with 2019. The WBMS report notes that significant increase was recorded in China and Chile.

The global copper demand edged higher marginally from 23.86 million tonnes in 2019 to 25.33 million tonnes during the previous year. The Chinese apparent demand surged higher by 17.1% to total 14.99 million tonnes. Meantime, the EU demand edged lower by 155 kt from the comparable total a year before.

The monthly refined copper production totalled 2,182.8 kt in December 2020, whereas the demand totalled 2,274.5 kt.