Luvata has seen a contraction in demand for copper
products in China so far in 2012, senior vp and chief procurement officer Bob
Kickham told Metal Bulletin on Monday October 8.
“We planned for growth but we saw some contraction, and it’s the first year
in as many as I can remember where that’s happened,” he said. The outright
contraction in sales volumes runs counter to prevailing analysis indicating that
China’s end-use demand grew in 2012, albeit at a slower pace than in previous
years. China’s apparent usage – not taking into account unreported changes in
inventories held by consumers, producers, traders or the State Reserve Bureau –
grew by 27% in the six months to July, driven by an 80% increase in net imports,
according to the International Copper Study Group (ICSG). But as the ICSG
pointed out, anecdotal evidence suggests that bonded stocks in Chinese
warehouses have surged during the same period as demand has failed to keep pace
with the stronger imports.“I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see that warehouse
stocks in China are at the 650,000-700,000-tonne...
Colin Bennett on 02 Feb 10ICSG 1 Feb 09 - Based on existing facilities and announced project developments, annual mine production capacity in the period 2009-2013 is expected to grow at an average rate of around 4.3% per year (%/yr) to reach 23.1 Mt in 2013, an increase of around 3.6 Mt (19%) from that in 2009. Of the total increase, copper in concentrate capacity is expected to increase by 2.7Mt (4.3%/yr) to reach 17.9 Mt and solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW) production by 820,000t (4.4%/yr) to reach 5.2 Mt. Most of the new mine projects and expansions are located in Brazil, Chile, Congo, Mongolia, Peru, the United States and Zambia, which together account for around 2.6 Mt (73%) of the projected mine capacity increase during this period. Annual smelter capacity is projected to grow by an average of 2.6%/yr to reach 20.2 Mt in 2013, an increase of 2 Mt (11%) from that in 2009. Asia will be the leading contributor to growth (1.8 Mt), with expansions and new projects expected mostly in China, but also in India, Indonesia and Iran. Africa is the second leading contributor owing to developments in Zambia. North American smelting capacity will fall by 12% (250kt) due to closures of plants in Canada. The ICSG tabulations indicate that world refinery capacity will reach 26.6 Mt in 2013, an increase of 3.2 Mt (13%) from that in 2009. About 2.3 Mt of the expansion is expected to come from electrolytic refineries and 820,000t from electrowinning capacity. Electrolytic refinery capacity growth is projected to average 3.1%/yr, exceeding the projected growth in smelter capacity, and electrowinning capacity growth (at the refinery level) is expected to average 4.3%/yr. About one half (1.5 Mt) of the world refinery capacity increase during this period is expected to come from electrolytic refineries in China; about 25% (830,000 t) from electrolytic capacity increases in India, Indonesia and Iran; and about 20% (600,000 t) from electrowinning capacity increases in Congo, Peru and Zambia.
