Industry Overview

Usage in 2006

Representing 21% of the world's demand, Europe used 4.7 million tonnes of copper in 2006, equivalent to a per capita use of 10 kg.  Copper information reports showed that usage in Central and Eastern Europe totalled 0.7 million tonnes.  Whereas copper mining has significantly decreased in the EU, Poland and Russia are important producers and exporters into the world market.
The core of the European copper industry is in refining, in the manufacture of semi-finished materials - such as wire and wire rod, sheet and strip, and extruded rod and profiles - and in an extensive end-use fabrication industry.
About half of the feed supplies to European refineries are sourced on the international market. Refineries convert purchased concentrates, blister, anodes and scrap into the necessary feed, mainly cathodes, for the semi-finished industry and beyond. The other half is sourced via the recycling of secondary material from within the EU. This is one of the key and growing contributions that copper can make to the goals of sustainable development.

Employment

Best estimates based on available copper-related information indicate that in 2002 the European refining industry, involving eight major players, employed around 4,000 people. The eighty or so companies involved in the semi-finished area employ around 40,000 people.
Given the broad coverage of copper products, for example electrical and data cables, the construction industry and automobiles right through to precision instruments and watches, end-use operations involve many hundreds of thousands of employees.

Future Prospects

Copper applications in the EU are well developed and the growth pattern of copper consumption generally follows the cycle of overall industrial activity, as measured by gross national product. Growth rates in Central and Eastern Europe are forecast to increase more rapidly as modern technology and materials are embodied in new investment.