Copper 1st-Quarter Deficit Was 67,000 Tons, ICSG Says (Update1) 2008-06-20 09:22 (New York)
(Adds mine output in second paragraph.)
By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen
June 20 (Bloomberg) -- Copper demand outpaced production by 67,000 metric tons in the first quarter as supply declined, the International Copper Study Group said.
That was narrower than the 167,000-ton shortfall a year earlier, the Lisbon-based group said in a report today. The first-quarter deficit was equal to almost two days of mine output, which fell 4.6 percent to 3.64 million tons. Refined production increased 1.5 percent to 4.49 million tons.
Copper prices have gained 26 percent this year, the third best performer among the six main metals traded on the London Metal Exchange after tin and aluminum. Strikes, declining ore quality and bad weather cut production from China to Chile, the world's largest refiners of the metal.
First-quarter consumption dropped 0.8 percent to 4.56 million tons. Apparent usage in China, the world's largest user, dropped 2.1 percent. China's apparent usage is derived from domestic output, net imports or exports and stockpiles tracked by the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
Stockpiles totaled 823,000 tons at the end of March, 17 percent less than at the end of December, the ICSG said. That includes inventories monitored by exchanges in London, New York and Shanghai and those of producers, consumers and traders.
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--Editors: M. Shankar, Stuart Wallace. |
