Copper end use trends

Positive expectations for copper producers have been generated by the recent increases in copper prices that reached US$4,725/t on the LME on 17th April. In Germany, copper smelter Aurubis expects that backed by rising prices the company will achieve oparating profits in the current fiscal year. Due to writedowns, the group suffered net losses in Q1 2009. In Poland, copper miner KGHM said that higher than expected prices may support the company to surpass its forecast. As a result, the company is updating its budget assumptions.

KITZ Corporation has announced that it will integrate its two brass bar manufacturing subsidiaries with effect from July 1st. According to the plan, KITZ Metal Works will take over Kyoto Brass and brass bar production will be integrated at the Nagano plant, Japan owned by KITZ Metal Works. As a result, Kyoto Brass' plant in Kyoto, Japan will be closed. The decision is attributed to the global economic downturn that has been taking place since autumn 2008. Total brass bar output of the two plants in January amounted to 3,000t, down by 40% y-o-y. The company anticipates that demand will not recover in the short run.

Xingye Copper International Group Ltd. raised its copper plate and strip capacity to 80kt. Capacity expansion has been achieved by improving technology. The company is a major high precision copper plate and strip producer in China with two plants in Cixi City, Zhejiang Province and Yingtan City, Jiangxi Province. For FY2008, Xingye Copper reported operating income of 1.758 billion yuan, down by 16.1% y-o-y, and shipments of 44,387 tonnes compared to 51,889 tonnes in 2007.

Onamba Co., Ltd. has announced that it will shut down and absorb two domestic plants that produce electric wire and wire harnesses. The decision will be implemented in H1 of FY2009 and is attributed to the weakening economic environment, the appreciation of the yen and the increased market competition. The company employs 130 staff.

Codelco, the world's largest copper company, on Tuesday took a cautious view on the outlook for the red metal. It warned that it was unclear if US demand had bottomed out yet, said Europe was stagnant, and that the only bright spot was China.

Nexans has introduced a full range cable qualified for projects in places with extremely low temperatures such as the Arctic. The new product is called ICEFLEX and it features advanced flexibility, something that cables with conventional insulation fail to achieve. It is a halogen-free marine and offshore cable that remains flexible in temperatures of -50 C. Considering the growing number of oil and gas projects in the Artic, the new cable has good sales prospects.

The Chinese Henan Province has announced that it plans to invest in key regional projects. According to the plans, nine projects are related to the non-ferrous metals industry, two of which are copper semis plants. The first is a high precision electronic copper sheet and coil project of Chalco Luoyang Copper Co., Ltd. with annual capacity of 100,000 t. The second is a copper sheet and coil project of Henan Sanfeng Copper Co., Ltd. with annual capacity of 50,000 t.

Brush Engineered Materials said it is expecting Q1 revenue to be 30 to 35% lower than that in Q4 2008. The Ohio-based specialty alloys company initially predicted revenue would fall by 15 to 25% from Q4. It also announced that it will cut its staff level by 15% in order to reduce costs. In a press release, Brush Engineered Materials said that it still experiences very weak demand for its products due to the global downturn and the market visibility is very low. Medical and defense-related products are in exceptions to this trend. It suggested from recent activity, the level of business may have bottomed but it is not certain of the case.

A pilot programme launched by the International Copper Association (ICA) and copper miner Codelco has tested the use of copper cages in salmon farming. According to a joint statement of the two organisations, it was the first time that about 60,000 salmon were harvested in copper cages. The programme was part of a wider plan of the two organisations which looks for new markets for copper. Codelco said that the use of copper benefits salmon farming because of its antimicrobial properties. The programme showed that there was a decrease in salmon mortality and better oxygenation in specimens.

Amid the global economic crisis, one sector that has not contracted but has actually expanded is the utilities infrastructure in the Middle East. The government of Dubai announced in January that it will spend AED 37.7 billion (US$10.3 billion) as part of its 2009 budget. A considerable part will be spent on infrastructure projects and power networks will be a significant portion of this plan. According to data provided by Dow Wire and Cable, the regional demand for medium and high voltage cables amounts to 270,000 km and this is expected to rise in the next 2-3 years. While there is still growing demand for medium and high voltage cables, there is currently shrinking demand for smaller products such as building wire.

Jiangsu Jiangrun Copper Co., Ltd. is planning to produce 240,000 tonnes of copper wirerod in 2009. The company is making use of the newly installed SCR line, which is gradually ramping up to its full capacity of 350,000 tonnes of copper wirerod. Jiangsu Jiangrun is a subsidiary of Jiangsu Jinhui Group, a major copper conductor producer in China established in 1994.

BOSTON - There's gold in the sea floor. Silver, copper, zinc and lead, too. The problem is, it's a mile or two underwater and encased in massive mineral deposits that layer a dark, mysterious world. But new technology and worldwide demand have combined to make mining for these metals economically feasible for the first time. A breakthrough project is moving forward in New Guinea, and new rules to govern deep ocean mining will be set by an international authority this spring.

April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Xstrata Plc, the world's fourth- largest copper miner, said it may buy other producers after a "collapse" in equities slashed the cost of potential targets.

Nexans and Bruker HTS announced that a high temperature superconducting distribution level cable project has been successfully completed. The project, called Super 3C, commenced in June 2004 and was finalised in December 2008. It was financed by the European Union and the investment amounted to 5.2 million euros. The cable achieves power transmission of 17 megawatts and it features second generation high temperature superconducting tapes.

"It's obviously had an impact on our projects, but we have the advantage of having the majority of the projects in the evaluation phase so we can put them off for the following years," Xstrata Copper CEO Charlie Sartain said. However, Xstrata's copper unit still has a number of projects coming on line this year or expanding output, which will help to solidify the company's role as the world's fourth-largest copper producer, he said.

According to Tom Albanese, CEO of Rio Tinto, metal stocks will see a boost in the second half of 2009. "We're beginning to see some of the infrastructure-driven stimulus plan in China and in the U.S. playing into steel, aluminum, copper demand and other materials that [Rio Tinto [RTP 134.06 1.06 (+0.8%) ]] would produce," Albanese told CNBC.

Codelco, the world's largest copper company, yesterday took a cautious view on the outlook for the red metal. It warned that it was unclear if US demand had bottomed out yet, said Europe was stagnant, and that the only bright spot was China.

Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced that they will set up a joint venture to produce high voltage cables. The plant will be located in Jebel Ali and will be operational next year. Annual output will be 30,000 tonnes of high voltage cable, supplying the local market and GCC countries. The investment will amount to Dh500 million (US$136 million) and is expected to break even in the third year of the project.

Miniaturisation is not new, but manufacturing mechanical, electromechanical and fluidic components on a micro scale is rapidly developing into a recognisable industry in itself. Alistair Rae reports on a selection of the latest developments in this exciting field. Over the past few years a new industry has developed to serve the growing demand for micro-manufacturing. While miniaturisation has been ongoing since the commercialisation of the transistor some 50 years ago, it is only recently that it has been viable to manufacture high volumes of mechanical and electromechanical components with features in the sub-millimetre range.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The global economic crisis is jeopardizing efforts to help the world's growing number of slum dwellers, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday. The U.N. housing agency UN-Habitat, which is hosting a major meeting this week in the Kenyan capital, says the number of slum dwellers in the world could triple to 3 billion by 2050 if left unchecked.