Facts about copper and nickel
Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:19 PM ET
June 28 (Reuters) - Phelps Dodge Corp. <PD.N> on Monday said it would acquire Canada's Inco Ltd. <N.TO> and Falconbridge Ltd. for about $40 billion in a blockbuster deal to create the world's largest nickel miner and the largest publicly-listed copper producer.
Following are some facts about copper and nickel:
* HISTORY OF COPPER:
-- Worldwide copper use has more than doubled since 1970 to reach 20 million tonnes at the end of 2005. Around 70 percent of demand is met by mining and the remainder by recycling.
-- Copper is the best electrical conductor after silver and is the oldest metal known to mankind.
-- Copper was known to some of the oldest civilizations on record, and has a history of use that is at least 10,000 years old. A copper pendant was found in Iraq that dates from 8700 BC.
-- By 5000 BC, there were signs of copper smelting, the refining of copper from simple copper oxides such as malachite or azurite.
-- The Statue of Liberty contains 179,200 pounds (81.3 tonnes) of copper. Despite 100 years of weather, the copper outer skin has remained virtually intact. It therefore needed little significant replacement for the statue's centennial restoration.
* COPPER USES:
-- Europe remains the leading region for copper use, accounting for 29 percent of world demand, but it is becoming increasingly rivalled by China whose share reached 23 percent in 2005. China is now the world's largest national market since 2002.
MAJOR APPLICATIONS (in Europe)
1. Electricity and energy.........................65 percent
(including wires and cables in the construction industry)
2. Building construction...........................25 percent
(including architecture and pipe work)
3. Transport.......................................7 percent
4. Miscellaneous...................................3 percent
(coins etc)
COPPER CONTENT
1. Average copper in electronic equipment like computers and mobile phones account for 5-18 percent of their weight.
2. The U.S. high-speed broadband (ADSL) network contains 3 billion km of copper, 7,800 times the distance between the earth and the moon.
3. Smaller cars contain around 15 kg of copper, while luxury cars can contain over 30 kg.
4. About 2 percent of the total weight of a Boeing 747-200 jet plant is copper.
TOP 5 PRODUCERS IN 2005 (Mine Output)
Codelco - 1.873 mln tonnes
BHP Billiton - 1.308 mln tonnes
Phelps Dodge - 987,000 tonnes
Rio Tinto - 810,000 tonnes Anglo American - 715,000 tonnes
Phelps Dodge, Inco and Falconbridge together produced about 1.5 million tonnes of copper in 2005, second only to Chile's
state-owned Codelco.
* HISTORY OF NICKEL:
-- First isolated in 1751, the word nickel originates from the German "kupfernickel," or false copper.
-- Like other heavy elements, the silvery white metal was formed on earth as a result of an exploding supernova.
-- Although nickel use has been traced back thousands of years, the first coins made of pure nickel were minted in 1881 in Switzerland.
* MAJOR USES OF PRIMARY NICKEL
Stainless steel - 834,000 tonnes (65 pct)
Non-Ferrous alloys - 149,000 tonnes (12 pct)
Plating - 108,000 tonnes (8 pct)
Alloy Steel - 58,000 tonnes (5 pct)
Foundry - 44,000 tonnes (3 pct)
Other - 89,000 tonnes (7 pct)
China was world's largest consumer of the metal in 2005, at 176,000 tonnes, followed by Japan (170,000 tonnes), the United States (140,000 tonnes) and South Korea (102,000 tonnes). Nickel consumption in China is expected to rise by about 30 percent over the next two years.
MARKET OVERVIEW ('000 tonnes)
2004 2005 2006 (f)
Global Production 1,277 1,285 1,350
Global Consumption 1,282 1,281 1,340
Market Balance - 5 +4 +10
TOP 5 PRODUCERS in 2005 (Mine Output)
Norilsk - 241,540 tonnes
Inco - 177,735 tonnes
BHP Billiton - 147,521 tonnes
Private & Others* - 97,119 tonnes
Falconbridge - 79,863 tonnes
*Includes Xstrata, Glencore, Mitsui, Mitsubishi & Societe
Miniere du Sud Pacifique.
Sources: Reuters; European Copper Institute
(www.eurocopper.org), Copper Development Association
(www.copper.org), Brook Hunt, Nickel Institute
(www.nickelinstitute.org) |
