China's 2012 copper demand to fall 8.5%

(MENAFN) Simon Hunt Strategic Services said that during the current year, China's copper consumption will fall by nearly 8.5 percent to 5.6 million metric tons, reported Bloomberg. However, the Weybridge, Surrey-based consultancy added that copper consumption in 2013 might rise 5.6 percent to 5.9 million tons. The company, which compiles research and analysis on the global market, noted that the figures indicate that China's slowdown is affecting demand for commodities and may hurt prices and reduce profits at mining firms. From 2013, refined consumption in China may grow by around 2 to 4 percent on annual basis, compared with average growth of nearly 10 percent per year in the past 10 years. In the January-August period, the Asian country imported 2.39 million tons of refined metal, compared with 1.51 million tons in 2011; according to Bloomberg calculations based on customs data. It is worth noting that in the January-June period, worldwide demand surpassed production by 129,000 tons, according to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics.