Consumption trends

摘要

Imports of refined copper in January were down 38 percent on a year ago at 70,74It, with scrap-imports also down 11 percent at 304,293t. This does not necessarily point to a significant fall in end-use-demand, rather the high price of copper is causing fabricators to buy less material than was the case at the same point in 2005. Initial indications suggest that underlying demand remains robust, with a February survey by Barclays Capital of 75 Chinese consumers, mostly brass mills serving the electronics industry, finding 40 percent responding that their order books were 'strong' and 53 percent 'average', with only 7 percent reporting 'weak' orders. We expect to see consumption and imports increase in the next few weeks as many fabricating plants gear up their production in time for the summer.