A recent report “China Non-ferrous Industry Analysis” has found that the copper demand in China slumped last year (2006), primarily due to heated prices. Despite a probable moderate fall in the demand growth rate in 2007, the copper demand of China will continue to rise, as the nation will continue to march towards urbanization and industrialization.
The copper futures in New York descended the most during February 2007 to April 2007 on indications that metal demand may decline in China, the largest user of copper in the world.
Stockpiles in Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses have grown more than double in 2007. This is the highest stockpile since December 2005, signifying that China may pick less copper from the overseas market.
For July 2007, copper futures delivery dropped by 11.25 cents (3.1%) to $3.5665 per pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The fall was the steepest since February 2, 2007 when the most active futures came 4.3% down because of tumult in worldwide equity markets.
“A large reason you've seen copper pullback is because China has slowed down a little bit in their buying”, said Kevin Kerr, President, Kerr Trading International, Wilton, Connecticut, in a statement reported by Bloomberg on May 10, 2007.
Imports by China are expected to decline after the top consumer of the world shipped in record volumes in 2007. The imports of refined copper by China are projected to have tumbled by around 40% from 2005 to approx 800,000 Tons in 2006, said the State Development Planning Commission, China's top planner.
According to the RNCOS report “China Non-ferrous Industry Analysis”, copper demand in the China is expected to dive by around 6.3% on year on year basis reaching about 3.38 Million Tons in 2006 end as against about 3.59 Million Tons in 2005. Although the copper consumption in China showed a downtrend during 2006 but as compared to other chief copper consuming nations, Chinese copper demand remains to be in the center of the market concern.
The market research report presents a comprehensive overview of copper mine production, demand-supply status, and exports and imports scenario in the Chinese non-ferrous industry. It also highlights the driving forces, opportunities, challenges, and future prognosis of the market. The report gives a prudent analysis on the price trends in major non-ferrous metals alongwith the outlook on the key market players.
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