World Refined Copper Market in Surplus During H1 2024, Says ICSG

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The preliminary data for world copper supply and demand for the month of June 2024 indicates that the market ended in apparent surplus during the initial half of the current year.

The August 2024 Copper Bulletin published by the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) states that refined copper market balance ended at a surplus of approximately 488,000 tonnes during Jan-June ‘24.

As per preliminary ICSG data, the world copper mine production has increased modestly by nearly 3.1% during the first six months of the current year. The concentrate production has increased modestly by around 2.0%, whereas the SX-EW output has recorded substantial surge by 7%.

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The production in Chile- the world’s largest copper mine producing country, increased by 2.4% during H1 this year. On the contrary, mine output declined marginally by 2% in Peru during this period, compared with the corresponding period in 2023. The Indonesian output surged higher by 33%. Also, the output in the DRC grew by around 8%.

The world refined copper output increased modestly by 6.2% during the initial six-month period during the current year. The primary production as well as the secondary production recorded increase by 5.7% and 6.3% respectively.

The apparent refined copper usage witnessed growth by 3.3% in H1 2024. The Chinese apparent usage saw 3.5% increase. The world ex-China refined copper usage is estimated to have grown by about 3% during the first six months of 2024.