Lisbon /Portugal - The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) has released preliminary data for 1st quarter 2010 world copper supply and demand in its June 2010 Copper Bulletin. The Bulletin is available for sale upon request. According to the preliminary ICSG data, the apparent refined copper balance for the first quarter 2010, including revisions to data previously presented, indicates an essentially balanced market: a production deficit of around 110,000 t in March essentially offset a production surplus from the first two months of the year.

A strong increase in usage in March in major consuming countries led to the refined copper production deficit. When making seasonal adjustments for world refined production and usage, March 2010 showed a production deficit of around 70,000 t and 1st quarter 2010 a surplus of about 100,000 t. World refined copper usage in March 2010 grew by 13.4 percent compared with that in March 2009 owing mainly to an 11 percent increase in China and the EU respectively, a 94 percent increase in Japan, and a 14 percent increase in the United States.

During the 1st quarter, the combined usage in these four regions increased by around 7 percent compared with usage in the 1st quarter of 2009. Although these year-on-year growth rates are strong, with the exception of China usage in the EU, USA and Japan is still below pre-crisis levels (below 1st quarter 2008 levels by 23 percent, 24 percent and 14 percent, respectively). World total refined copper usage grew by around 8.5 percent (360,000 t) in the 1st quarter of 2010 compared with that in the 1st quarter of 2009.

World mine production in the 1st quarter of 2010 grew by a modest 0.7 percent (30,000 t) compared with that in the same quarter of 2009. Concentrate production grew by 0.5 percent while solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW) grew by 1.6 percent. Production was still affected by lower output in the United States, Peru and Indonesia, where aggregated production decreased by 9 percent. Production in Chile, the world’s biggest producer, increased by a modest 2.8 percent considering that production in the 1st quarter 2009 was lower (-3.2 percent) than production in the 1st quarter 2008. Mine production capacity utilization rates in the 1st quarter 2010 were around 76 percent and reflected continued intentional cutbacks and operational constraints that reduced output.

More information including a table on World refined copper usage and supply trends, 2004-2010, can be found under icsg.org(1). Please visit the ICSG website icsg.org(2) for further copper market related information.

Quelle: International Copper Study Group (ICSG)

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