Altan San Securities - Mongolia Investment - Study group finds copper market was in deficit

Study group finds copper market was in deficit

World demand for refined copper exceeded supply by about 50,000 tons during March, the International Copper Study Group reported earlier this week. This followed a supply deficit of 27,000 tons in February, and a surplus of 124,000 tons in January. For the first quarter of 2009, the copper market showed a surplus of about 50,000 tons, compared with a production deficit of 67,000 tons a year earlier, the ICSG said. The increased deficit in March was mainly owing to continued high net Chinese imports of refined copper.

In the first quarter of 2009, world usage fell by 4% compared with the first quarter of 2008. The decline would have exceeded 10%, the ICSG said, had it not been for a very high apparent usage in China. This grew by 36%, as net imports of refined copper almost doubled to about 750,000 tons, partially offsetting a decrease of 19% in the rest of the world.
Markets were particularly weak in the EU-15 countries, Japan, and the USA, where usage decreased by 25%, 46%, and 27%, respectively. These three regions currently represent around 30% of the world total copper usage.

Source: www.news.mn

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