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Gold/Mining/Energy : Mining News of Note -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LoneClone who wrote (37474)	5/21/2009 9:18:07 PM
From: LoneClone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 193918

Refined copper market moved to deficit in February – study group miningweekly.com By: Creamer Media Reporter 21st May 2009 TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The global market for refined copper was in a small deficit in February this year, mainly thanks to increased Chinese net imports, the International Copper Study Group said on Wednesday. According to ICSG data, the refined copper market balance for February indicated a deficit of 35 000 t, compared with a surplus of 121 000 t in January. However, the apparent refined copper balance for the first two months of 2009 still indicated a production surplus of around 85,000 t, compared with a production deficit of 61 000 t for the same period in 2008. In February 2009, world refined copper usage is estimated to have remained essentially unchanged, compared with usage in the same month of 2008, as a 52% increase in Chinese apparent usage offset a decrease of 18% in other countries. World usage in the first two months of 2009 declined by 4,4%, or 130 000 t, from that in the same period of 2008, as China’s apparent usage growth of 33% was more than offset by a significant decrease in usage in the other three major consuming regions, the EU-15 countries, Japan, and the United States, of 25%, 44%, and 25%, respectively. World usage outside of China declined by 18%. World mine production grew by 2,6%, or 61 000 t, in the first two months of 2009, compared with the same period a year earlier, when operational problems led to reduced production. Concentrate production was up by 1,1%, while solvent extraction-electrowinning was up by 8.4%. However, owing to production constraints and intentional cuts/shut-downs, mine production remained well below available capacity with capacity utilisation falling to around 78%, compared with an average of 87% over the past five years. In the first two months of 2009, world refined production remained essentially unchanged (up 0,6%), compared with refined production in the same period of 2008. Primary production was up by 2%, while secondary production (from scrap) decreased by 8%, reflecting the scarcity of scrap, the ICSG said. Increases of around 10% in Chile and 10% in China were offset by decreases in other regions such as the EU and Japan, owing to scheduled production cuts.