Lisbon /Portugal - The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) has released preliminary data for April 2010 world copper supply and demand in its July 2010 Copper Bulletin. The Bulletin is available for sale upon request.

According to preliminary ICSG data, the refined copper market balance for April 2010 indicated a market deficit of 60,000 metric tonnes. When making seasonal adjustments for world refined production and usage, April showed a surplus of about 30,000 t. The apparent refined copper balance for the first four months of 2010, including revisions to data previously presented, indicates a production deficit of 67,000 t (a seasonally adjusted surplus of 119,000 t). This compares with a production surplus of around 75,000 t (a seasonally adjusted surplus of about 245,000 t) for the same period in 2009.

World refined copper usage in April 2010 grew by 5.8 percent compared with that in April 2009, mainly owing to the continued recovery of usage in Japan, the European Union (EU) and the United States. Chinese apparent usage remained unchanged from the high level of April 2009. During the first four months of 2010, world usage grew by 8.3 percentcompared with that in the first 4 months of 2009: Usage grew by 3 percent in China, 11 percent in the EU, 43 percent in Japan and 2.7 percent in the United States. Combined, these four regions currently account for 71 percent of total world refined copper usage.

During the first four months of 2010, world refined production increased by 5.8 percent (340,000 t) compared with production in the same period of 2009: primary production increased by 2.1 percent, while secondary production (from scrap) increased by 28 percent. Note that the large relative increase in secondary refined copper production reflects in part the lower copper prices and consequent tight scrap market that existed in early 2009.

Refined production increased by 34 percent in Africa, 11 percent in Asia and 8 percent in Europe, but decreased in the Americas by 2.4 percent and in Oceania by 28 percent. The refined production capacity utilization rate in the first four months of 2010 increased to almost 80 percent from 77 percent in the same period of 2009 and reflects increased scrap availability and the restoration of temporary cuts made in early 2009.

Please visit the ICSG website icsg.org for further copper market related information.

Quelle: International Copper Study Group (ICSG)

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