World Refined Copper Market Plummeted to Massive Deficit in 2017

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) has released the preliminary copper data for the month of December 2017 in its March 2018 Copper Bulletin. The world refined copper market ended in a deficit of nearly 163,000 tonnes in 2017. The world refined copper mine production declined by around 2% in 2017. Refined output increased marginally by 0.6% during the year. The apparent usage of the metal showed marginal improvement by 0.7%.

According to ICSG, the copper mine production recorded tremendous jump during the second half of the year. The mine production had witnessed a fall of nearly 4% over the previous year during H1 2017, on account of a series of supply constraints.

The output from Chile- the biggest copper mine producer was impacted by the prolonged labor strike at its Escondida mine in the first half of the year. The lower output from Codelco mines also contributed to the 1% decline in copper mine output by the country. The concentrate output from Argentina dropped sharply by 59%. Canada and Mongolia too reported 14% decline each in copper mine production, primarily on account of lower grades. The temporary ban on concentrate exports led to 12.5% decline in country’s concentrate output. The US mine output fell by 12%.

The fall in mine production in the above regions was partially offset by increase in mine production in Kazakhstan and Peru.

The primary refined copper output dropped marginally by 0.15%, whereas the secondary copper output surged higher by 4.5%. The main contributors to the growth were China, India and some EU countries. However, overall growth was partially offset by 7% decline in Chile. The production also decline in Japan and the US.

The improved scrap supply has limited the global use of refined copper in 2017. As per preliminary data, the apparent usage by ex-China region recorded 0.5% jump, whereas Chinese apparent usage increased by 0.9%. India and Japan reported increase in usage. On the other hand, the usage declined in other key markets such as the US, Germany and South Korea.