Copper end use trends

It was reported that Eredi Gnutti Metalli (EGM), Italy's leading copper alloy semis fabricator, holds a positive outlook on production in the coming months in spite of economic turbulence in the eurozone. The company is hoping to increase its production to between 120,000t and 130,000t in the 2012 fiscal year. EGM has been undergoing a process of consolidation in recent months and has recently procured copper and copper alloy semis fabricator Ilnor.

The Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association reported that wire and cable shipments rose by 3% y-o-y in October to reach an estimated 60,700 tonnes. The October figure was up from a revised 59,171 tonnes in September. Demand from carmakers jumped 21.5% y-o-y, representing the third consecutive month of year-on-year rises, while orders from the construction and electrical machinery sectors remained firm, but those from telecoms and electric power companies remained subdued. The October output is the second-lowest for the month in the past 35 years.

Encore Wire Corporation, a leading copper cable-maker for the building sector, has submitted plans to build a 202,000-square-foot facility in McKinney, TX to house aluminium wire production lines. The plans include the employment of 100 staff and the value of the project, which is reported to be $25M. Of Encore Wire's total cable production, it is estimated that 5% of sales revenue are from cable containing aluminium conductor.

Aurubis has announced that it will reduce its production capacity of flat rolled copper products by 35,000t in a restructuring process that will take place beginning from H2 2013. The group intends to transfer some of its rolling operations from Finspång, Sweden to Zutphen in the Netherlands and is also considering moving other types of production currently located at the Finspång factory to its facility in Buffalo, USA. Aurubis attributed the consolidation to structural overcapacity in the flat rolled products market and made specific mention to declining demand in the engine cooling segment.

According to reports, Aurubis, Europe's leading copper semis fabricator, is successfully maintaining high levels of output and is looking for takeover opportunities despite the current economic turmoil in the eurozone. The company sees current global demand for copper as strong and does not expect it to weaken in the coming months. It has been speculated that Aurubis may acquire assets in Asia and/or South America in the near term. Nevertheless, the company announced last week that it plans to close some its flat rolled copper operations in Finspång, Sweden due to overcapacity.

According to Antaike, Zhejiang Fuyang Kalaite Metal Products Co., a brass bar and lead brass producer, will develop a copper and zinc project in the Yugan Industrial Park at an investment cost of RMB100M (approximately US$15.7). The combined production capacity of the project is expected to reach 200,000t/y and the operation will employ around 100 staff.

The Saudi Cable Company announced that it has secured orders from two of Korea's biggest construction firms, taking its total order value for the month to over SAR1B (approximately US$266.6M). The Jeddah-based supplier of copper cables received a SAR63M (approximately US$16.8M) order from Doosan Company, a diversified firm covering construction and engineering among other sectors, and a SAR56M (approximately US$14.93M) order from Hyundai Engineering. Both mandates will be supplied in Q1 of next year.