Outokumpu, a leading stainless steel fabricator, announced on 1st November that it has sold its 50% shareholding in Nordic Brass Gusum, a brass rod mill located in Sweden, to the operative management. The brass rod mill has a production capacity of 40,000t/y, employs 150 workers and in 2010 achieved a turnover of EUR110M. Outokumpu still owns another brass mill in the Netherlands, Copper LDM B.V., which has a production capacity of around 30,000t/y.

Nexans announced sales of EUR1.7B (US$2.4B) in Q3 2011, up 3.9% y-o-y. Sales increased by 6.8% y-o-y in the first three quarters of the year. In the energy sector, the company's sales increased by 2.8% in energy infrastructure, 9.6% in industry, and 7.4% in building. With regards to the telecoms sector, Q3 sales increased by 6.0% in telecom infrastructure and 2.9% in private networks (LAN). The consumption of copper cables especially accelerated in Europe and South America. Wire sales were down by 13.8% due to Nexans' decision to utilise more of the material in their own downstream production, resulting in less material being available for external sales.

The EU announced a 'Connecting Europe Facility' initiative on 19th October, which has substantial potential to boost European wirerod demand. As part of the €50B (US$69.5B) investment initiative, the EU plans to invest €9.1B (US$12.7B) in energy infrastructure, including renewable energy generators, smart meters and smart grids, and €9.2B (US$12.8B) in telecommunications and ICT.

According to an industry body, Japan's copper wire and cable shipments declined by 1.6% y-o-y to 59,500t in September. The decline was the result of weaker demand fromthe telecommunications, power utilities and the electrical machinery sectors. Nonetheless, demand picked up 0.5% y-o-y from the automotive sector.

It was reported that Gree Electric Appliances, a state owned manufacturer of air-conditioners, recorded a 65%y-o-y increase in exports in Q3. Indonesia, Brazil, India and Africa were quoted as regions with great potential for exports. The company anticipates that the air-conditioning industry will witness a 20-30% y-o-y increase in exports in 2011. Nevertheless, Gree noted that the eurozone crisis is impacting negatively on business.

According to Aurubis, the largest producer of copper in Europe, copper prices will be supported by strong demand from China and Europe over the next year. The struggling mine supply of the metal will also help to sustain price levels. Aurubis believes that the recent drop in price was caused by a change in market sentiment rather than a physical fall in demand, although the company noted that some customers have become cautious when placing orders recently. Market insiders at the 2011 China International Mining Expo & Summit Forum supported the view of continuing robust demand. Some sources from the forum estimated Chinese demand for the metal to grow between 5% and 10% in 2012.

China's General Administration of Customs announced on 12th October that imports of copper rose by 11.8% m-o-m to 380,526t in September. This represents 3.3% y-o-y growth and the highest level of imports since May 2010. Nevertheless, many market insiders were disappointed by these figures, expecting higher levels of imports. China's tightening credit market and concerns over economic slowdown in Europe meant that Chinese copper demand did not grow as strongly as anticipated.

Electrical wire and cable manufacturer Eurocable Group announced that it has began production of copper wire at its plant near Zagreb as part of a push for the vertical integration of its business. The company is one of the few manufacturers of electrical wire and cable in Europe to launch in-house production of copper wire from copper cathodes. Eurocable Group's in-house production will fully cover the company's needs for 8 mm copper wires, thus cutting operating costs and making external suppliers redundant. The copper cathodes that will be processed at the Jakovlje site will be procured from companies that are members of the LME. Production will initially focus on meeting only the needs of the Eurocable Group itself.

There have been reports that the Jinchuan Group Ltd. has invested in modernising its 60,000t/y high-precision copper tube production line. The company introduced a 55MN double-action extruder and a 35MN indirect extruder. Similar to many other Chinese copper semis fabricators, Jinchuan is focusing on increasing its output of more technologically advanced products which have greater value added.

It was reported that state-owned Chongqing Machinery and Electronics Group Ltd., plans to invest RMB1.5B (US$236M) in a 100,000t/y refined copper project, which is expected to come on stream in 2015. The company predominantly specialises in the automotive sector, the rail sector, electrical appliances and machinery.

According to a survey conducted by the Copper and Brass Servicecenter Association, the majority of copper distributors and fabricators hold a pessimistic view of the market. 81% of surveyed service centres and 39% of surveyed suppliers believe that orders in Q4 will remain the same, with 46% and 14% of them, respectively, expecting orders to fall. Furthermore, there is widespread concern over the uncertain future of the copper market in the light of financial turmoil in the US and Europe.

Fushi Copperweld Inc., a leading manufacturer of copper-clad wire, was granted approval by the Commercial Court of Liege in Belgium to lease a 45,000 square-meter copper tube manufacturing and distribution facility, which would serve as an operational hub for the company in Europe. The plant will produce 5,000-6,000t/y of copper tube and plans are being considered to develop a copper-clad wire production line. During the lease period, Fushi Copperweld will have the option purchase all of the assets for EUR5.8M (US$7.8M).

A proposal was made by the European Union (EU) to force telecoms operators to lower their charges to firms who rent their copper networks. Firms that utilise fibre-optic networks would however be exempt from this regulation. The EU believes fibre-optic to be a worthwhile investment that will dramatically improve European infrastructure in the future.

Data released by the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association indicated that China's output of copper semis increased by 5% m-o-m to 935,350t in August. The rise has been linked to increased demand for power generation equipment, wires and cables and AC motors. However, demand is likely to be offset by seasonally weak demand for air conditioning and refrigeration equipment.

Data from the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers Association revealed that exports fells by almost 32% m-o-m in July. Wire and cable exports fell 51% y-o-y in July. Predictions for August expect a further fall of 22% y-o-y. The country receiving the largest share of exports from Japan is Qatar, which predominantly imports electrical power cable.

The Japan Copper and Brass Association reported that production of rolled copper products fell by 5.3% y-o-y to 70,670t in August, the biggest fall this year. The decline is linked to weak demand for chips, connectors and automobiles.

China's Customs General Administration reported that import of refined copper declined by 11.9% y-o-y in August 2011 to 235,509t. August imports of copper concentrate, on the other hand, increased by 42.1% y-o-y to 675,928t. Copper scrap saw a y-o-y decline of 4.0% in August.

Nexans is taking copper deliveries as agreed in contracts with Codelco and has not cancelled any reservations with the Chilean miner, a Nexans spokeswoman said. Codelco, the world's top copper producer, had told a newspaper that some of its European and U.S. clients asked to cancel orders due to fears there will be less demand amid uncertainty about the global economy.

SWCC Showa Holdings Co., Ltd. announced it has established Hangzhou Fortis Showa Wire Materials Research & Development Co., Ltd., a fifty-fifty joint venture subsidiary for analyzing materials with Fortis Group Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer of communication cables in China. The subsidiary will be employed to locally procure raw materials for copper wirerod and cable for use in photovoltaic systems they will manufacture in China. It aims to strengthen cost competitiveness whilst also securing quality.

Tianjin Chuangxinyuan Investment Co. Ltd. has announced plans to invest RMB613M in the development of a high-precision copper strip and foil project in Tianjin. Upon completion, the project will have a production capacity of 10,000t/y of high precision copper foil and strip. The project is expected to generate a turnover of RMB600M/y. Trial production will take place in October of this year, following the installation of two production lines with a combined capacity of 2400t/y. Tianjin Chuangxinyuan Investment will become China's biggest producer of copper strip and foil upon the project's completion.