By | 2007-04-02 00:00:00

China produced 27 percent more copper in 2006 than the official estimate because government statistics didn't include output from the country's smallest refineries,China Minmetals Corp. said . Chinese copper output last year was probably 950,000 metric tons, more than the 750,000 tons estimated by the government, said Huang Guoping, vice-president of China Minmetals Nonferrous Metals Co., a unit of the country's biggest metals trader. Imports of refined copper surged in February as the country added to its stockpiles of the metal. Prices have more than tripled in the past four years on soaring demand from China, the world's biggest copper consumer. Higher prices have stimulated Chinese copper production, Huang said today in Santiago at the CRU World Copper Conference. Chinese copper refineries increased production by 17.8 percent to 2.93 million tons in 2006, he said. The discovery of 26.8 million tons of new copper deposits will offset the country's ``heavy dependency'' on imports of the metal, Huang said. Copper for delivery in three months gained $95, or 1.4 percent, to $6,755 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Prices have risen 27 percent in the past year. Copper prices will fall, Huang said, without giving a time fra me or specific estimate. China's ``peak growth rate'' in copper consumption will slow in the next few years, he said. Minmetals will expand its presence in the Chilean copper industry and may finance and construct new mines in other countries, Huang said. The company may also ``selectively and prudently enter the high-quality copper smelting industry,'' he said.

By | 2007-03-22 00:00:00

Copper futures in Shanghai rose, snapping a two-day decline and heading for a sixth straight weekly gain, as better-than-expected economic growth in the U.S. improved the demand outlook for the metal. In the U.S., the world's second-largest copper user after China, gross domestic product expanded at a 2.5 percent annual rate last quarter and unemployment claims fell last week by 10,000, government reports said yesterday. ``The latest news from the U.S. obviously boosted the market,'' said Cheng Xiongfei, an analyst at Minmetals Star Futures Co., today. Copper for delivery in June on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose as much as 1,020 yuan, or 1.7 percent, to 62,830 yuan ($8,127) a metric ton today and traded at 62,800 yuan at the market's midday close. The contract fell from a three-month high in the previous two days on falling homes sales and ``uncertainties'' about the economic outlook in the U.S. Metal for immediate delivery in Changjiang, Shanghai's biggest cash market, rose as much as 1,340 yuan, or 2.2 percent, to 61,920 yuan a ton today. The price premium of the front-month April copper futures contract over the cash market narrowed to as low as zero. The futures price became more expensive than the market for immediate delivery earlier this month, suggesting ample near-term availability of the metal. Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange traded 0.7 percent up at $6,805 a ton at 11:56 a.m. Shanghai time. Global Demand Stockpiles monitored by London, New York and Shanghai exchanges are headed for their third straight weekly drop, the longest period of declines since September. Xstrata Plc, the world's fifth-largest mining company, said yesterday global demand for copper remains strong, counteracting a slide in U.S. purchases triggered by a housing slowdown. China's imports of refined copper and alloys rose to 152,651 metric tons in February, the highest level since February 2004, according to Bloomberg data. The country has entered a peak demand period for copper, especially from the power and construction sectors, traders said. Construction use typically rises after winter. Earlier this week, a U.S. government report showed new-home sales unexpectedly fell in February to the lowest level in almost seven years. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said that ``uncertainties'' about the U.S. economic outlook ``have increased somewhat in recent weeks.'' London aluminum traded unchanged at $2,780 a ton at 11:58 a.m. Shanghai time. Zinc rose 1.6 percent to $3,250 a ton. Shanghai aluminum for June delivery added 0.1 percent to 19,350 yuan a ton at midday. Shanghai zinc for July delivery rose the first day in three, adding 0.3 percent to 29,360 yuan. A futures contract is an obligation to buy or sell a commodity at a fixed price for delivery by a specific date.

By | 2007-02-07 00:00:00

According to the dispatches from foreign news agencies, in spite of the increasing production, the shortage of the copper selected mine in 2007 will limit the copper output in China, the connoisseurs said on Friday.China is the biggest copper consumption country in the world, but the copper mine supplies for itself less than 1/3 of the total amount, which makes as the biggest buyer in the copper selected mine market in the world.It is predicted that copper matte an ability to expect rising by 500 thousand tons at least. But, the Chinese non-ferrous metal industry association estimates that copper output will rise only by 200 thousand tons next year, copper output will expect for 2.95to3 million tons for this year. It anticipates that the copper selected mine becomes tensely in the market, part of reason is due to the lower in production and the increasing of matte capacity. BHP Billiton Chip Goodyear said on Wednesday BHP Billiton is the biggest copper mine of the globalization ¨CEscondidas major stockholder. Its processing charge will be US$60/MT and smelting charge will be US$6 pence/p,33% lower than this year. BHP Billiton have canceled " price in on¡± terms, the Chinese smeltery can gain the extra charge of the rising in copper price through the "price in on term. One from smeltery said, China has refused the term of BHP Billiton The connoisseurs said, in face of above-mentioned condition, the Chinese smeltery prepares to closed some smelt facilities and cuts down the consumption in copper selected mine