China will increase copper consumption by 12%

The consumption of copper in China in 2011 compared with 2010 will increase by 10-12%. This opinion was expressed by a local company Jiangxi Copper, reports Reuters. Last year, consumption of red metal in China was estimated at 6.8 million tons. Recently, the chairman of the board of directors of the local steel company Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Wei Tszyanhun suggested that China in 2011 will increase the consumption of copper to its highest level in four years. Earlier it was reported that China in February 2011 compared with January reduced imports of copper by 35% to 235.469 tonnes. Delivery of red metal in the country were the lowest since January 2009. First of experts Maike Futures suggested that imports of refined copper in China in 2011 will decrease by 4,5%. According to their forecasts, the entry of the red metal in the country this year will amount to 2.75 million tons compared with 2,880,000 tons last year. According to experts Antaike, this year in China will produce about 4.9 million tons of refined copper. Ministry of Industry