Pan Pacific Copper Sees World Copper Ingot Oversupply in 2008

Japanese leading copper smelter, Pan Pacific Copper expects world copper ingot will be 200,000-240,000 tonnes of oversupply in 2008 compared with 200,000 tonnes of short supply in 2007. The firm expects Chinese output increase will contribute to the supply balance in 2008. International Copper Study Group also expects the world market will be 250,000 tonnes of oversupply in 2008. However, the supply could get short if the supply would decrease due to production trouble. Pan Pacific Copper expects the world copper ingot production is 19.1 million tonnes in 2008, which is around 6% higher than 2007. The firm expects Chinese output increases to 3.8 million tonnes from 3.3 million tonnes in 2007. The firm expects the world demand increases by around 4% to 18.9 million tonnes in 2008 from 2007 when Chinese demand increases to 5 million tonnes from 4.5 million tonnes in 2007.