WBMS Metal Balances Indicate Deficit Copper Market Until September

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The trade statistics published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) indicate that global copper market recorded modest deficit during the initial nine-month period of the current year. The global copper market recorded deficit of 887kt during this period. This follows a deficit of 383kt recorded during the whole of year 2019.

The reported copper metal stocks at the end of September this year were higher by 109 kt when compared with the end of the previous year. The LME warehouses reported net deliveries of nearly 18kt. The Comex and Shanghai stocks rose by 37.1kt and 46.9kt respectively during January to September in 2020.

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The world copper mine production during the initial nine-month period of 2020 totalled 15.31 million tonnes, slightly lower by 0.4% when compared with the year-ago period. The global refined copper output too recorded modest increase over the previous year. The refined production totalled 17.60 million tonnes, higher by 2.7% when compared with January to September in 2019. The WBMS report notes that China and Chile recorded significant increase in production.

The global copper demand edged higher marginally from 17.6 million tonnes in Jan-Sep ’19 to 18.5 million tonnes during the first nine months this year. The Chinese apparent demand surged higher by 18.4% to total 10.8 million tonnes. Meantime, the EU demand edged lower by 185kt from the comparable total last year.

The monthly refined copper production totalled 2,025.1kt in September this year, whereas the demand totalled 2,241.5kt.