Description
Copper is an element, reddish brown in color, having atomic number 29 and pertaining to the scientific symbol ‘Cu’. Coming from the same family of silver and gold, this element shares numerous common characteristics with those precious metals. This element is a highly ductile and malleable element and a very good conductor of electricity. That is why it is highly used in the electrical appliances as a thermal and electrical conductor and in building wires. It occurs in various minerals on earth and is also forms part of a lot of alloys. Copper also has characteristics that it is a creep and corrosion free metal and all of its so very useful features make it an element on which the world’s economy directly depends.
Overview
Copper is a very important element and the oldest known commodity in the world that directly affects the world’s economy. It stands at the third place in context of the world consumption after steel and aluminum. It is largely used in electrical appliances, as it is the cheapest metal, which is a good conductor of electricity. It is also considered safe as a raw material in wire making. Alloys of copper like bronze, brass, monel and speculum metal are also very popular and are extensively used throughout the world.Copper is an element that has a universal availability and is found worldwide especially in the volcanic areas possessing high levels of sulfur concentrations. In fact about 90% of the world’s copper deposits are located in the great basin of the western United States, Zambia, central Canada, the Andes region of Peru and Chile and some regions of Antarctica too! The production of refined copper hovers around 15 million tons annually. The leading copper producing nations are United States and Chile, both having 18% shares in the total world’s production. The leading country in which copper is refined is United States of America. The consumption of copper stands at the third position among the most consumed metals in the world after steel and aluminum. The consumption of this metal is concentrated in the highly industrialized countries namely

  • Western Europe (29%)
  • United States of America (19%)
  • Japan (14%)
  • Russia (10%)
  • China (6%)

The percentage given above denotes the % consumption of the total world’s consumption. The consumption trend is on a rise with the increasing contribution of the countries in Asia like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. There are various factors that influence the demand and supply of copper in the world such as the technological, social and technological factors. This is the demand for copper that governs the findings of new mines and the expansion of old mines. Only 17% of the total copper produced in the world is available for trading. The major copper exporting nations include

  • Chile
  • Indonesia
  • Canada
  • Australia

The largest copper importing countries of the world includes

  • Spain
  • China
  • Germany
  • Philippines