Deficits for copper and nickel decreased significantly in 2019, according to the latest World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) data.
Copper deficits in 2019 decreased by 181,000mt to 94,000mt compared with 275,000mt in 2018. The deficit for nickel also decreased by 96,500mt to 2200mt in 2019 compared with 98,700mt in 2018.
Global copper output from mines increased by 1.7pc to 20.69mn mt in 2019 while the global refined copper production was up by 0.3pc at 23.72mn mt in 2019 compared to the previous year. India and Chile recorded a significant decrease in refined copper production at 128,000mt and 192,000mt, respectively while copper production in Europe dropped by 4.7pc to 3mn mt through 2019.
In 2019, global copper consumption was down by 1pc at 23.82mn mt from 23.92mn mt in 2018. However, consumption of the metal increased in China, growing by 2.5pc to 12.8mn mt in 2019 from the previous year.
Global nickel mine production was 2.6mn mt in 2019, up by 218,000mt from 2018 while the global consumption was 65,000mt higher than 2018.
The nickel smelter production in China was up by 119,000mt in 2019 while the consumption was at 1.3mn mt, increasing by 208,000mt from the previous year.