Global copper market ends in surplus during H1 2015

By  Paul Ploumis 20 Aug 2015  Last updated at  08:30:22 GMT

BRUSSELS (Scrap Monster): The global copper market has recorded a surplus of 151,000 tonnes during January to June this year, as mentioned in the latest metals balances report published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS). It must be noted that the worldwide copper market had reported a surplus of 295,000 tonnes for the entire year 2014.

The global mine production during the period from January to June this year totaled 9.45 million tonnes. The mine production has grown by 3.8% when matched with the corresponding six-month period in 2014. Meantime, global refined copper output jumped higher by 2.4% over the previous year to 11.25 million tonnes. Chinese refined copper output reported significant increase of 161,000 tonnes during this period. EU-28 region’s production grew by 0.5% during January to June 2015. Also, refined copper production was up by 48,000 tonnes in India during H1 2015.

The global copper demand during Jan-June ’15 stood at 11.099 million tonnes, down marginally by nearly 1.18% when compared with 11.231 million tonnes during the same period in 2014. The Chinese apparent consumption recorded sharp fall of 63,000 tonnes during this period to total 5.337 million tonnes. The Chinese demand accounted for nearly 48.1% of the global demand. However, EU-28 apparent consumption increased considerably by 6.8% from 2014 levels to 1.783 million tonnes.

According to the report, reported stocks of the metal stood higher by 93,000 tonnes during the initial six-month period of the year when compared with 2014 closing. It must be noted that reported stocks fell during both May and June this year.