Copper mine grew by 3.7% in the first quarter

The International Copper Research Group (ICSG) has released preliminary statistics on world copper supply and demand for March, Mining.com reported. The data showed that world mine copper production rose 3.7 percent in the first three months of 2021, with copper concentrate up 5.5 percent and solvent extraction electrodeposition (SX-EW) copper production down 3.5 percent. In June 2020, copper production from the world's mines began to recover as the blockade was eased.

Production in Peru, the world's second largest copper producer, rose 3 per cent, mainly because of an 18 per cent increase in March from a low base a year earlier, the ICSG report said.However, production in the first three months of 2021 was still 10% below the same period in 2019. Indonesia's production rose 91 per cent, helped by continued expansion of underground mining at the Grasberg mine. New mines or expansion projects have led to big increases in production in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mongolia, Panama and Russia, ICSG said. However, in Chile, the world's largest copper producer, total copper production fell 2 per cent and while concentrate production rose 3.5 per cent, SX-EW production fell 16 per cent.

Preliminary data show that in the first three months of 2021, world refined copper production increased by 4%, primary (electrolytic and electrodeposition) copper production increased by 4.2%, and recycled (waste) copper production increased by 2.3%. China's refined copper production rose 8 per cent in the first quarter, according to preliminary official statistics.Among them, the output of electrolytic copper increased 15% year on year.But electro copper production was down 16 per cent year on year. In Africa, refined copper production rose 16 per cent in the Democratic Republic of Congo and 39 per cent in Zambia as new or expanded SX-EW plants continued to come on line. Preliminary data show small declines in production in Brazil, Japan, Mexico (SX-EW), Russia, Spain (SX-EW) and Sweden due to a variety of reasons, including maintenance, production issues and the closure of the SX-EW plant. Globally, production of recycled refined copper grew 2.3 per cent, with China contributing the most. World apparent consumption of refined copper rose 4.5 percent in the first three months of 2021 from a year earlier, according to preliminary data.

The global lockdown caused by COVID-19 has had a significant negative impact on the world economy, which in turn has affected copper consumption in countries other than China.Although consumption began to recover in the second half of 2020, global consumption remains below pre-epidemic levels. The ICSG report estimates that copper consumption around the world, excluding China, fell 9 per cent in 2020 as a result of the outbreak, and by a further 4 per cent in the first quarter of this year. In contrast, China's apparent consumption (excluding guaranteed/unreported stocks) rose 13 per cent and its net imports of refined copper rose 5.8 per cent. In the first three months, the world apparent surplus of refined copper was about 130,000 tons.