The latest trade statistics published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) suggests that world copper market ended in marginal deficit during the initial eight-month period of 2018. The market recorded deficit of 25.3kt during this period. It must be noted that the market had ended in surplus of 93.8kt during the whole year 2017. The reported stock of the metal declined in August, but was still higher by 31kt, as compared with the end-December 2017 level. The Asian region reported net deliveries of 30kt out of LME warehouses. According to WBMS, the world copper mine production totaled 13.57 million tonnes ... (full story)