WBMS: World Copper Market Posted Surplus in Jan-Feb ‘20

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The world copper market recorded surplus of 98 kt in January to February this year. This compares with the deficit of 197 kt in the whole of 2019, said latest data published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS).

The reported stocks of the metal rose during the months of January and February this year, closing at a level of 263 kt higher than the end-2019 levels. This is inclusive of net deliveries of 72.3 kt into the LME warehouses and 187 kt into the Shanghai warehouse. Meantime, Comex stocks registered decline by 101 kt over the initial two-month period of the current year.

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The world copper mine production totalled 3.48 million tonnes in Jan-Feb ‘20, which is 10% higher when compared with the same period in 2019. On the other hand, global refined copper output surged higher by 6.5% to total 3.85 million tonnes until February 2020. The production in Chile and China reported significant increases by 187 kt and 49 kt respectively.

The global copper demand stood at 3.75 million tonnes in Jan-Feb ‘20, compared with 3.61 million tonnes in the corresponding period last year. The Chinese apparent demand, at 1.886 million tonnes, was higher by 8.5% year-on-year. The EU demand too fell sharply by almost 9% to 497 kt.

The monthly refined copper production and consumption totalled 1,864.8 kt and 1,857.6 kt respectively in February 2020.