International Copper Study Group

The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) is an intergovernmental organization that serves to increase copper market transparency and promote international discussions and cooperation on issues related to copper. The ICSG is the only forum solely dedicated to copper where industry, its associations and governments can meet and discuss common problems and objectives.

Membership is open to any country involved in copper production, consumption, or international trade and any international governmental organization competent to negotiate, conclude and implement international agreements, in particular those related to commodities.

Work and Activities

The International Copper Study Group maintains activities in four core areas:

1. Statistics

The ICSG maintains one of the world's most complete historical and current database providing access to production, consumption and trade data for copper, copper products and secondary copper, price series, and information on copper mines and plants.  Contact the ICSG Secretariat for further information.

The ICSG releases a monthly Press Release providing the very latest information on supply and demand.

2. Environment & Health

The ICSG follows a variety of regulatory issues, mostly environmental and health, of interest to the copper industry, e.g., REACH, Basel Convention, Copper in Drinking Water, Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution and Heavy Metal Protocol, and Climate Changes. As some of our government members are actively involved in these files, participants to ICSG meetings obtain debriefings on the latest activities and discuss possible strategies in dealing with some of these issues.

In March 1997, the ICSG hosted the first World Conference on Copper Recycling, which brought together industry, governments and academia to discuss issues relevant to the recycling of copper (regulatory, market, technical).  Following member approval in May 2007, the Secretariat launched a new copper scrap project that is designed to provide greater transparency on an increasingly vital component of the world copper market at a time when globalization is reshaping the copper scrap and copper alloy recycling business.

3. Economics

The Group has produced and sponsored a number of research publications including its annual report on first use capacities and studies that have examined copper markets in Zambia, the European Union, India, Central Europe, ASEAN countries and parts of Latin America. Most of these market studies are available from the ICSG Secretariat.

4. International Commodity Body

As the recognized International Commodity Body for copper by the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), the ICSG prioritizes, formulates and supervises CFC-financed projects relating to copper. Currently, the ICSG is supervising a project focused on the transfer of technology for high pressure copper die casting in India and has supervised a range of earlier projects, including one to promote greater copper use in energy efficient products in India and China.