COPPER
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A ductile malleable
reddish-brown corrosion-resistant diamagnetic metallic element; occurs
in various minerals but is the only metal that occurs abundantly in
large masses; used as an electrical and thermal conductor.
World Copper Markets
The eight leading refining nations, viz., United States,Japan, Chile,
Canada, Zambia, Belgium, and the Federal Republic of Germany account for
67% of total refined metal production.
Factors Influencing Copper Markets
- Copper prices in India are fixed on
the basis of the rates that rule on LME the preceding day.
- World copper mine production
through exploration of new mine and expansion of existing mine.
- Economic growth of the major
consuming countries such as China, Japan, Germany etc.
- Growth and development in the
Building, electronics and electrical industry
Indian Scenario
- The size of Indian Copper Industry
is around 4 lakh tons, which as percentage of world copper market is
3 %.
- Birla Copper, Sterilite Industries
are two major private producers and Hindustan Copper Ltd the public
sector producers.
- India is emerging as net exporter
of copper from the status of net importer on account of rise in
production by three companies.
- Copper goes into various usage
such as Building, Cabling for power and telecommunications,
Automobiles etc. Two major states owned telecommunications service
providers; BSNL and MTNL consume 10% of country's copper production.
Growth in the building construction and automobile sector would keep
demand of copper high.
Global Scenario
- Economic, technological and
societal factors influence the supply and demand of copper. As
society's need for copper increases, new mines and plants are
introduced and existing ones expanded.
- Land-based resources are estimated
at 1.6 billion tons of copper, and resources in deep-sea nodules are
estimated at 0.7 billion tons.
- The global production of refined
copper is around 15 million tons
- The major copper-consuming nations
are Western Europe (28.5%), the United States (19.1%), Japan (14%),
and China (5.3%).
- Copper and copper alloy scrap
composes a significant share of the world's supply.
- The largest international sources
for scrap are the United States and Europe. Chile, Indonesia, Canada
and Australia are the major exporters and Japan, Spain, China,
Germany and Philippines are the major importers.
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