https://www.miningweekly.com

Global copper market to swing to surplus in 2015 for first time in 5 years

Global copper market to swing to surplus in 2015 for first time in 5 years

Photo by Reuters

15th October 2014

By: Henry Lazenby

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: North America

  

Font size: - +

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – A global copper industry think tank on Tuesday said the copper market, which had been in a supply deficit for the past five years, would swing to a surplus.

The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) met in Lisbon, Portugal, on Monday and Tuesday, after which it published its copper market forecast for 2014/15.

The group said global refined copper output was expected to top demand for refined copper by about 390 000 t, as demand was expected to lag behind production growth.

The ICSG expected global refined copper demand for 2014 to exceed refined copper production by about 270 000 t.

After growth of 8% in 2013, world mine output in 2014 was expected to grow by around 3% to 18.6-million tonnes. Operational failures combined with delays in ramping up production and starting up new mines was leading to lower-than-expected growth.

However, strong growth in world mine output was expected in 2015, owing to more output from expansions and new mine projects. After adjusting for historical disruption factors, world mine output was expected to grow by about 7% in 2015. Most of the new production was expected to be in the form of copper in concentrate.

This year, world refined copper output was expected to rise by about 5% to 22.1-million tonnes compared with that in 2013, mainly underpinned by expanded capacity at electrolytic plants in China and, to a lesser extent, from expanded solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) capacity in Africa.

Primary refined output (excluding SX-EW) was expected to grow by 7%, benefitting from adequate concentrate availability, while secondary production growth was foreseen at 2%, impacted by tightness in the scrap market.

In 2015, world refined copper was expected to grow further by about 4% to 23.1-million tonnes.

The ICSG expected global growth in demand for refined copper to rise this year by about 5% year-on-year to 22.4-million tonnes, partially supported by the tightness in the scrap market. Apparent demand in China was expected to increase by about 7% in 2014.

In the rest of the world, demand was expected to climb by about 3.5%.

For 2015, despite industrial demand, growth in China was expected at 5%, and the growth in apparent refined usage was expected at 1.8%, placing total global demand growth next year at about 1% despite expectation of higher underlying industrial demand growth.

Edited by Tracy Hancock
Creamer Media Contributing Editor

Comments

Showroom

Rittal
Rittal

Rittal is a world leading provider of top-quality integrated systems for enclosures, power distribution, climate control, IT infrastructure and...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
GreaseMax
GreaseMax

GreaseMax is a chemically operated automatic lubricator.

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.108 0.144s - 88pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now