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Asian demand dominates copper market

http://www.commodityonline.com/news/topstory/newsdetails.php?id=7011

Strong Asian demand continues to dominate the copper market. On March 27, 2008, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said that its preliminary data showed that world copper production fell short of consumption by 42,000 tons in 2007.

World mine production was up 3% in 2007 while total usage was up 7%. The big increases in usage came from China, Africa, and Oceania.

On October 1, 2007, the ICSG reduced its estimate of a 2008 world production surplus was reduced from 527,000 tons to 249,000 tons.

For all of 2006, the ICSG said that world copper production exceeded consumption by 287,000 tons in all of 2006, a fairly dramatic increase from the 131,000 ton production deficit in 2005.

London inventories of copper started 2007 at 182,800 tons and ended the year at 197,450 tons