creamer media

In the three months ended September 2014, economic growth in China – the world’s biggest consumer of base metals and a significant producer of some base metals – decelerated to its slowest pace since the 2008/9 global economic crisis. Although manufacturing output had increased in the quarter, activity in the property sector slowed down. Some analysts are expecting full-year growth to be below the targeted 7.5%, with China’s slowing economic growth continuing to be a worrying factor in terms of the outlook for demand for base and other metals.

Nonetheless, ratings agency Moody’s expects the base metals industry to be stable over the next 12 to 18 months, explaining that this does not imply that conditions will improve meaningfully in 2015, but that conditions are unlikely to deteriorate further up to early to mid-2016.

In light of these developments, Creamer Media’s Base Metals 2014 Report examines the global base metals market, with a particular focus on supply and demand, and on the production of copper, zinc, nickel and lead, as well as selected base metals operations and projects in Africa.

This report is a summary of information published in Engineering News and Mining Weekly, as well as information available in the public domain and does not purport to provide an analysis of market trends.

Published on: 10 December 2014.