Copper the Buzzword in BIR Report

Representatives from BIR member companies throughout the world all seem to echo the same mantra: scrap copper shortages are driving prices; China continues to remain the focal point for scrap copper purchases; and some financial houses, including hedge funds, playing a more active role in the market.

In his opening remarkets, Marc Natan, president of BIR’s Non-Ferrous Metals Division, asks a host of questions for the industry. “Will prices remain high of will they fall to levels that discourage project development and break the fragile recycling?”

He continues, adding that consumption of raw material has been soaring in countries such as China and India. He adds that the same will be happening in Russia and Brazil in the years ahead. “On the other, producers are having to face growing pressure from production costs: energy, transport, and labor costs have been increasing at an exorbitant rate.”

After surmising the soaring price and demand he sees in a number of non-ferrous grades, Natan concludes by saying that while the current cycle has been prolonged, there will be an inevitable correction “when the laws of economics kick in to restore balance.

Members of the BIR may read the World Mirror by going to the association’s Web site at www.bir.org.