A A A

About CDA

U.S. Copper Usage Down in 2002

June 30, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK — U.S. copper usage dropped for the second year in a row. The 2002 level of 7,313 million pounds is a 6.0% decrease from the revised 2001 level of 7,780 million pounds. Exports of mill products in 2002 fell also, down 7.1% to 735 million pounds. Imports, at 909 million pounds, decreased 8.3% from the previous year.

U.S. copper mine production dropped 14.8% to 2,516 million pounds from last year’s 2,954 million pounds, according to "Annual Data 2003 – Copper Supply and Consumption, 1982-2002," published this month by the Copper Development Association Inc. The report covers the industry's vital statistics from mine to end-use market over the past two decades and may be viewed in our Market Data section.

Electrowon copper production was down 4.3% at 1,324 million pounds, while smelter production at 1,506 million pounds represented a decline of 25.7%. Total production of refined copper at 3,332 million pounds dipped 15.0% from 2001 levels, and consumption of refined copper at 5,174 million pounds was down 9.9%. The direct consumption of scrap was up slightly by 4.1% at 2,242 million pounds.

Building construction (3,384 million pounds) continued to be the largest end-use market for copper products, accounting for nearly half, 46.3%, of total U.S. usage. Electrical and electronic products (1,662 million pounds) accounted for 22.7% of total usage; transportation equipment (744 million pounds), 10.2%; industrial machinery and equipment (725 million pounds), 9.9%; and consumer and general products (798 million pounds), 10.9%.

Note to Editors: Readers may obtain CD-ROM copies of "Annual Data 2003 – Copper Supply and Consumption, 1982-2002" for $10.00 each from the Copper Development Association Inc., 260 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, or by calling 800-480-4276.

###

The Copper Development Association is the information, education, market and technical development arm of the copper, brass and bronze industries in the USA.

Learn more at our blog coppertalk.org.

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/coppertalk.

Press Contacts

Victoria Prather
Manager, Communications
Phone: (212) 251-7209
E-mail