China’s copper demand figures have been depressed by usage of scrap metal and supplies taken out of bonded warehouses, Macquarie Group Ltd said in a report. Over the past two months, about 200,000 metric tons of copper may have been removed from bonded warehouses in China, which should be added to demand estimates, Macquarie said in a report dated tomorrow. Not counting that metal, apparent copper demand was down 8.5 percent in January through May from the same period last year, Macquarie said. “Another factor depressing refined copper consumption has been greater use of copper scrap as a substitute for refined copper but the most recent reports suggest availability of scrap is now greatly reduced,” Macquarie said. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

Source