Secondary copper output rising in 2023

The summary of global copper production prepared each month by the Lisbon-based International Copper Study Group (ICSG) is short on details regarding recycling of the red metal. However, the ICSG’s report covering this September says secondary copper production based on scrap infeed has risen by 7.5 percent year on year nine months into the year.

According to ICSG, that rate of increase is above that for global primary refined copper production, which rose by about 4.8 percent in the first nine months of 2023. The overall landscape for copper in 2023 recently has led to price increases on the London Metal Exchange and COMEX.

China has been a major contributor to the secondary production spurt this year, and the report notes maintenance and disruptions at primary refining facilities in several nations—including the United States, Sweden, Indonesia and Finland—have put a ceiling on primary refined copper output.

In the United States, several facilities are under construction or in the startup phase that could eventually lead to more secondary copper domestic production and a decrease in red metal scrap available to the rest of the world.

However, U.S. Census Bureau data aggregated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) show any potential shift in scrap flows has yet to transpire in a significant way.

Despite oft-cited economic woes, China remains the largest buyer of U.S. outbound red metal scrap. More than 212,000 metric tons of copper-bearing scrap went from the U.S. to China (including Hong Kong) in the first eight months of this year, according to the USGS.

Malaysia has purchased more than 46,000 metric tons of U.S. red metal scrap this year, and Thailand has bought more than 32,000 metric tons. Traders say much of that material, however, ends up in China in more carefully sorted or ingot form.

India is emerging as a red metals destination for U.S. red metal scrap, with an eight-month 2023 total of around 48,000 metric tons.

Overall, U.S. recyclers shipped out 532,000 metric tons of red metal scrap for export in the first eight months of 2021 and 586,000 metric tons from January to August last year. This year, the total after the same period stands at 570,100 metric tons, for a modest 2.7 percent decrease in year-to-date exports.