South Korea's copper cathode production in 2006 is expected to increase more than 7 percent after a 40 percent jump in the industrial metal's prices in 2005, an industry group said on Monday.
The Korean Nonferrous Metal Association forecast the country's copper output to rise to 554,000 tonnes in 2006, up 7.2 percent from 517,000 tonnes estimated in 2005.
Copper has risen 39.5 percent in value in the last 12 months, blazing a trail to a succession of record highs against a background of supply problems, low inventories and heavy investment by funds and speculators.
But domestic demand for the metal, used in construction and power cables, will probably grow only marginally to 854,000 tonnes in 2006 from 841,600 tonnes last year due to high prices, the association said in a statement.
South Korea, whose economy is Asia's fourth largest, consumes about 6 percent of the global output.
The country is also expected to produce 700,000 tonnes of zinc ingot in 2006, 7.7 percent more than 650,000 tonnes estimated for 2005, the association said.
Industry experts have said zinc prices, up more than 50 percent over a year ago, would continue to rise due to tight supply.
However, the association expects South Korea's refined nickel production to sharply fall to 23,000 tonnes in 2006 from 27,300 tonnes in 2005.
Nickel, used mainly as an additive to stainless steel, is suffering from falling global stainless steel prices and build-up in stocks.
Last month, POSCO, the world's fifth-largest steel maker by output, cut prices of stainless steel products by up to 20 percent amid concerns about a supply glut from China.
Comments
Comments are closed.