London 16/05/2016 - The International Wrought Copper Council (IWCC) expects the global refined copper market to be broadly balanced in 2016 and 2017, it said on Monday.
Copper mine production for 2016 was forecast at 18.935 million tonnes, while refined copper production in 2016 is forecast to be 21.97 million tonnes, up 0.2 percent compared with 2015.
Global reported refined copper demand in 2016 is expected to increase by 1.5 percent to 22.038 million tonnes.
For China, in 2016 the IWCC forecasts that reported demand for will increase by 2.5 percent to 10.34 million tonnes.
In 2017, mine output is expected to increase by 3.4 percent to 19.572 million tonnes, while refined copper production is forecast to be 22.349 million tonnes, up 1.7 percent compared with 2016.
During this period, demand might increase by a further 1.8 percent to 22.436 million tonnes.
Reported demand for China next year was forecast at 10.57 million tonnes, up 2.2 percent compared with 2016.
(Editing by Martin Hayes)