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According to Antaike, Chinese refined copper production in November amounted to 405,257t. For the 11 months to November the figure was 3,778,095t, an increase of 8% y-o-y. Chinese copper semis production in November reached 221,091t; for the year to November copper semis output totalled 2,432,149t, up by 17% compared with the same period in 2008. In addition, the customs office reported that refined copper imports in November increased by 15% m-o-m to 194,388t.

Sindicel and ABC reported that increasing domestic demand for non-ferrous metal products boosted semis output in 2010. Production of aluminium and copper electric conductors advanced by an average 14% in 2010, while semis output grew by 10%. The association said that the upturn in 2010 was supported by Brazil's civil construction sector, followed by the automotive, energy transmission, oil and gas, and mining industries.

Major Japanese copper semis and wire and cable manufacturers were impacted by the devastating earthquake. It was reported that Hitachi Cable's establishments in Densen, Hidaka, Takasago and Toyoura were affected, while the Minato plant was flooded by a 1.5-metre tsunami. Fujikura's facilities in Sakura, Chiba, which engage in the production of optical materials, were also impacted. Furukawa Electric's Chiba offices, which are located at a landfill, were affected due to soil liquefaction. The company's production equipment at its telecom cable factory experienced damages. Mitsubishi Shindoh, a copper and alloy semis fabricator, saw its plumbing operations partially destroyed. San-Etsu, a brass bar specialist, is shutting down production at its Shin-Nitto plant in Ibaraki, without any significant damages reported whatsoever. Production will be transferred to two other factories.

Chinese imports of copper and copper semis contracted by 36% m-o-m to 235,500t in February 2011, according to customs statistics. The figure was also down by 27% from the same period a year ago. It was reported that utilisation rates of copper semis makers declined after the Chinese New Year, and therefore copper consumption fell. In addition, some semis fabricators had built stock before the festive season, which impacted imports in February. On anticipation of surging copper prices, imports were very strong in January and that led to high inventory levels in Shanghai bonded warehouses.

According to the Sao Paolo based electric conductors and non-ferrous metals association Sindicel, the copper semis industry in Brazil has been challenged by high production costs. As a result of sharp fluctuations, the industry has not been able to fully pass on to clients the rise in raw materials prices. Over the past few months, copper prices advanced by 30% whilst Brazilian copper product prices increased only by 12-13%. Therefore, the copper semis sector is realising tighter margins.

Antaike reported that most Chinese copper semis fabricators orders decreased in June 2011 from the previous month. Copper commercial tube, copper wire and copper wirerod output rose 10% y-o-y in H1 2011. However, output growth of copper sheet and strip in the same period was weaker. Semis fabricators' profits fell attributed to high finance costs and high copper prices. These factors have also affected refined copper consumption.

"lobal Aerospace Industry Semi-Finished Copper Materials Market "

Riccardo Garre the Chief Executive officer of KME Group SpA, the Italy-based manufacturer of copper semi-fabricated products, said in an interview with Bloomberg that he expects the company's production of copper and alloy semis to be 435,000t in 2013, unchanged from 2012, and 10% lower than in 2011. The Chief Executive said "to assume that in 2013 the volume will be exactly the same as in 2012, it means it's really a negative vision," although he did note some strength in flat-rolled copper and alloys used in the automotive and electronics industries. In the interview, he also said he believed slowing economic growth had prompted manufacturers to look for cheaper alternatives to copper semis, such as aluminium and plastics.

Jiangxi Copper, the large vertically-integrated Chinese miner, smelter and semis manufacturer announced on 27th March that its output of semi-finished copper products was 582,100t in 2012, an 18.6% increase on 2011. The company said that it expects to expand production further in 2013, to 845,000t, which would be an annual increase of 45%. The company will do this by adding additional capacity, increasing available capacity to 920,000t in 2013, from 720,000t in 2012.

An official from SDI La Farga LLC's said on 11th December that the company is producing limited amounts of wirerod at its new US $39M plant in New Haven, Indiana. The new facility, a joint venture between Spain's La Farga Group and Steel Dynamics Inc, produces wirerod from number 2 scrap copper rather than cathode. The company official said "we've produced quality rod and are in the process of getting approval of customers and we have done so with several customers." He added that plant officials are "waiting for more customer orders to start producing more".

Anhui Jincheng, the Shanghai-listed producer of copper PSSF, said on 26th March that it produced 93,872t of copper PSSF in 2012, a 13% y-o-y increase from 2011. Despite the increase in output, the company made a net loss of RMB57M in 2012 from a profit of RMB24M in 2011 (loss of US$9M from a profit of US$3.8M). Remarking on the results the company said that "uncertainties in the global economy, the euro debt crisis, plus the weak Chinese economy, has negatively impacted demand by the downstream processing sector last year."

Talking at the annual CESCO/CRU World Copper Conference, CRU Principal Consultant Vivienne Lloyd said that up to 2Mt of copper demand could be lost over the next five years due to substitution and consolidation amongst Chinese semis producers. Lloyd said that the areas under the greatest threat from substitution are the automotive wiring harness sector and the HVAC sector. However, CRU believes that the aluminium/copper price ratio is likely to have peaked in 2012 at around 4:1, and will fall back gradually to 2017 reaching 3:1, which should relieve some of the substitution pressures.

Assomet, the Italian non-ferrous metals association, released figures indicating that the output of copper and copper alloy semi fabricated products fell by 4.8% y-o-y to 1.1Mt in 2011. Copper semi-fabricated products output fell by 6.7% to 556,100t in 2011, while copper alloy semis production declined by 2.8% to 501,500t. The association noted that there was a sharp deterioration in demand in Q4 2011 as concerns grew about the country's debt.

The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association reported that output of copper products amounted to 1,585,022t in Jan-Feb 2012, indicating a rise of 33% y-o-y. This production value tallies with the earlier reported semis output figure of 1,580,000t from the National Bureau of Statistics for the same period.

Construction of a copper semis project was reported to have commenced in Wuqing District, Tianjin. The project has a planned capacity of 100,000t/y of semi-fabricated copper products and is expected to enter production in 2013. Tianjin Nonferrous Metals Industry Association has invested RMB2.0B.

Ural Metal and Mining Company (UMMC), a Russian vertically integrated producer of semi fabricated products, has said that it will continue its investment projects in semi-finished copper and copper alloy products despite a 6% y-o-y Jan-July decline in rolled demand this year. The company broke this figure down into its constituent segments: demand for copper pipes fell by 18% y-o-y and flat rolled products sales dropped 8% y-o-y in Jan-July. UMMC currently sells between 58,000-62,000t of rolled products per annum through its Kirov (flat rolled), Revda (flat rolled), Kolchugtsvetmet (tubes) and Majdanpek (tubes) operations. UMMC will complete its delayed 4-year investment strategy in 2013 with an upgrade of machinery at its Kolchugtsvetmet operation.

Aurubis said that demand for its products bottomed in April and showed some recovery signs in May. As a result of weakening demand in Q1, the company cut copper wirerod output by 25% to 168,000t. The company planned to cut working hours in its copper wirerod plant in Hamburg but the measure was not implemented as demand strengthened. Luvata reported that its copper semis sales contracted on average by 25% y-o-y in Q1. The worst hit end-use sectors were the automotive and construction industries, which plunged by 40% y-o-y in Q1. In response to the economic crisis, the company has cut production in the US, Europe and China. Both Aurubis and Luvata said that as their customers have kept stocks to a minimum the market now experiences stabilisation. Luvata highlighted that its recent demand increase may be only the result of restocking. Also, extended summer holidays will impact this rebound.

Chinese imports of refined copper and copper semis are likely to have stayed flat of fallen slightly in March from a month ago. The figure in February was 322,282 tonnes, a 10.3% m-o-m increase. In addition, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, Chinese output of copper processing products totalled 593,000 tonnes in February. Output in the first two months of 2010 amounted to 1.3 million tonnes, a 33.9% increase compared with the same period in 2009.

It was reported that five leading Japanese copper semis fabricators posted better results for April-December 2010, partly attributed to higher copper prices and a very hot summer. However, profitability in October-December was lower because of slower demand from the automotive and electronics industries as well as inventory adjustment by the end-users.

According to a survey conducted by Antaike in China, 33 semis fabricators out of 55 had not started operations in the first week after the Spring Festival. It was reported that these companies will resume operations after the 10th day of the Chinese New Year. The majority of the companies that had started operations by the first week of the Chinese New Year did not maintain any raw material inventory as procurement aimed to meet only current production needs.

According to data released by the Japan Copper and Brass Association, Japanese copper semis output advanced by 1% y-o-y to 70,000t in February 2011. The figure was down by 0.4% from January. It was reported that steady demand from the automotive sector, generated by strong emerging markets, offset a slower than expected recovery in the semiconductor industry. However, the association expects that output in March is likely to fall due to the impact of the earthquake. Fabricators experience supply chain disruptions, fuel shortages and power outages.

Taiwanese end-use sectors that consume copper semis will be impacted by the earthquake in Japan, according to the Industrial Economics & Knowledge Centre. End-use sectors that will face a disruption in the supply or raw materials and parts include display panels, semiconductors, machinery equipment and solar cells. Major Japanese fabricators of electrodeposited copper foil and rolled copper foil JX Nippon Mining & Metals and Hitachi Cable have factories in areas that have been impacted by the earthquake.