World Copper Market Shows On-going Deficit

World refined copper balance for the first eleven months of 2018 (including revisions to previous data) indicates a deficit of about 395,000 t: In developing its global market balance, ICSG uses an apparent demand calculation for China that does not take into account changes in unreported stocks [State Reserve Bureau (SRB), producer, consumer, merchant/trader, bonded]. To facilitate global market analysis, however, an additional line item—Refined World Balance Adjusted for Chinese Bonded Stock Changes—is included in the attached table that adjusts the world refined copper balance based on an average estimate of changes in unreported inventories provided by three consultants with expertise in China’s copper market. Lower growth in world refined production, as explained above, was one of the main factors that resulted in a deficit of about 395,000 t over the first eleven months of 2018. After adjusting the world refined copper balance for changes in Chinese bonded stocks the market deficit was around 465,000 t.