Copper end use trends

CommScope, Inc. will supply the Bishop Hill Wind Farm in Henry County, Illinois with its GroundSmart(TM) Copper Clad Steel solution, an alternative to solid and stranded copper that is increasingly in demand by utilities for its cost-efficiency and anti-theft characteristics. CommScope will provide 1.7 million feet of GroundSmart copper clad steel grounding wire to the project this year--the largest GroundSmart application to date. The Bishop Hills Wind Farm will include approximately 130 wind turbines. Developers of Bishop Hill said that they see GroundSmart as a simple solution to reducing projects costs without compromising the system's integrity. Copper clad steel is specifically designed to disperse fault currents and lightning strikes at a lower total cost of ownership compared to pure copper.

The production of wiring and wiring devices in Hungary increased by 16.7% y-o-y in the January to May 2011 period. Hungarian manufacturers' total sales of wiring and wiring devices increased by 18.5% y-o-y, mainly due to a substantial increase of 36.2% in sales on the domestic market. Sales on export markets increased by a more modest 15.6%, according to Hungary's Central Statistical Office.

Chinalco Luoyang Copper Co. Ltd., a leading Chinese semis fabricator, commenced production at its new metal clad sheet manufacturing facility in Luoyang City, Henan Province. The facility, which cost RMB150M, has the capacity to output 20,000t/y of metal clad sheet. Chinalco Luoyang Copper Co. Ltd. has three production lines: the first fabricates copper and copper alloy flat rolled products; the second fabricates copper and copper alloy tube, rod and bar; while the third is used for the manufacture of flat rolled products made from aluminium, magnesium and their alloys.

On 19th July, the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association announced that copper wire and cable shipments increased by 2.4% y-o-y to 58,000t in June 2011. Nevertheless, the shipments remain the third-lowest in 35 years for the June.

Aurubis AG and Luvata Group have agreed a closing date for the sale of Luvata's rolled copper and brass products division (RPD). Aurubis originally expected the deal to close in August, however, delays in seeking regulatory approval has caused the date to slip to 1st September. Aurubis has received clearance from the US and Turkish regulatory authorities but is awaiting a response from the European Union's antitrust body. The early May agreement stated that Aurubis will pay the Net Working Capital of Luvata RPD at the time of closing, anticipated to be between EUR200 - 250M. The final price is subject to copper price movements and stock levels at Luvata RPD.

Changzhou Jinyuan Copper, invested in by JX Nippon Mining & Metals, said it plans to increase wire drawing capacity to 30,000 tonnes per year in 2012 from 18,000 tonnes. The announcement follows an expansion of its wirerod production facility which increased capacity to 300,000t/y in May 2010. The company currently manufactures copper wire to 1.13-3.5mm diameter from 8mm wirerod and sells all of its 1.13-2.6 millimetre range to the domestic market. The focus of the firm is supplying high quality products needed for winding wire used in vehicles. 60-70% of its domestic shipments are for winding wire, 20-25% are for power cable with the remainder comprised of communication cables. Changzhou Jinyuan Copper output 221,000t of 8mm copper wirerod in 2010 and 134,500t in H1 2011.

According to data released by the Japan Copper and Brass Association, Japan's rolled copper output amounted to 70,019t in June, a drop of 3.2% m-o-m and 4.2% y-o-y. Despite strong support from the air conditioner sector, demand was hampered by the struggling chip and automotive sectors.

The Japanese Electric Wire & Cable Maker's Association reported that copper wire and cable shipments amounted to 58,000t in June 2011, up by 2.4% y-o-y, principally attributed to strong demand for wiring harnesses used in the automotive industry. This marks the first positive growth in Japanese wire and cable shipments since February after a drop in shipment levels due to the 11th March earthquake and tsunami. Wire and cable exports registered another year-on-year contraction in June, caused by increased competition from local producers and the strong yen. On the other hand, domestic delivery levels increased on the previous year in June, representing the tenth y-o-y rise in a row.

The Copper and Brass Servicenter Association reported that shipments of brass mill products amounted to 23.1Mlbs in June 2011, up slightly from 23.0Mlbs on the previous month and down by 6.5% y-o-y. The positive signs of growth that were registered earlier in this year, which peaked during March as shipments reached 25Mlbs, subsequently dropped and levelled off in Q2. Slower growth in June compared with the same month last year is attributed to shipments of brass products falling 12.8Mlbs, down by 12% y-o-y, with the largest drops in shipments occurring within the brass sheet, rod and bar product segments.

Daye Nonferrous Metals Co. announced the commissioning of its copper fabrication project on 4th August 2011. The development of the project required an investment of RMB2.1B and is set to reach a production capacity of 300,000t/y.

Switzerland-based power and automation technology group, ABB Ltd., won a contract tendered by TenneT, the Dutch-German transmission grid operator, to connect North Sea wind farms to the German mainland grid. The order is worth US$1.0B and ABB expect to use over 135km of 320kV submarine cable in the designed transmission system. The project is expected to be operational in 2015 and follows two other offshore wind connection orders for ABB in Germany; the 800MW Dolwin1 link awarded last year and previously, the BorWin1 project. The Dolwin1 link is expected to be completed in 2013 and will involve the use of 150km of 320kV copper submarine cable.