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Gold/Mining/Energy : Copper - analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tyc:> who wrote (1974)	2/25/2009 10:14:01 AM
From: Stephen O	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2131

China Copper Demand May Rise by 8% in 2009, CBI Says 2009-02-25 11:38:41.322 GMT By Li Xiaowei Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Copper demand in China, the world’s largest consumer, may rise 8 percent this year, said commodities research company CBI China Co. The country’s apparent refined copper demand, which is production plus imports minus exports, may increase to 5.5 million metric tons, according to slides presented by CBI analyst Grace Qu at a Shanghai conference today. China, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, is implementing a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) package to boost an economy whose exports have been hurt by the global recession. Copper prices are down 60 percent in the past year in London. “The change in real consumption depends on whether growth in the power sector can offset decline in others,” Qu said. Imports of refined copper may climb 15 percent to 1.7 million tons and exports may rise 40 percent to 134,000 tons, according to Qu’s slides. Production may rise 6.6 percent to 4 million tons this year from 2008. Still, Barclays Plc analyst Yu Yingxi said imports may remain flat this year, unless China’s State Reserve Bureau buys from overseas. “We heard they have bought a small amount from foreign producers,” said Yu. Expectations of state buying may support London copper above $3,000 a ton in the near term, she said. China is procuring aluminum, zinc, corn and cotton to bolster prices after exports fell the most in almost 13 years in January on lower U.S. and European demand. The reserve bureau agreed today to buy $168 million of zinc from domestic smelters and plans to increase purchases to almost a month’s production. China’s copper production capacity may reach 5.5 million tons in 2009 and 6.6 million tons in 2010, from 4.7 million tons in 2008, according to CBI. The capacity to make blister copper, which is then refined, may increase to 3.4 million tons in 2009 and 4 million tons in 2010, from 3 million tons in 2008, CBI said.