Gasan Ramazanov commented on introduction of US duties for copper imports
RIA Novosti reported that Donald Trump instructed the Department of Commerce to consider imposing new duties on copper imports to restore production of metal in the United States.
«Part of foreign exporters will lose the US market because it will be unprofitable for buyers to import copper from foreign countries. In turn, foreign suppliers will have to look for new markets for copper, which will increase competition in the global market and may result in a reduction in copper prices," the expert commented.
First of all, imposing duties will affect the US importers, as they will have to look for alternative sources of metal supply in the domestic market. «However, the price of copper in the US will rise due to imposition of duties, as it will be difficult to cover 35% of the US demand for copper in a short period of time," Gasan Ramazanov suggested.
According to the report of the US Geological Survey (USGS), in 2024, consumption of copper cathode in the United States was estimated at 1.6 mn tons, while domestic production was 1.04 mn tons per year, the expert quoted figures. Thus, domestic production covered only 65% of the US demand for copper cathode.
According to the expert, to cover the rest of the domestic demand for copper, the Americans imported about 810,000 tons of copper cathode in 2024. The main exporters in 2024 were Chile, Canada, Mexico and Peru.
Wednesday, 26.02.2025