The Transition of Production, Consumption and Price of Non-ferrous Metals

비철금속(非鐵金屬)의 생산(生産), 소비(消費), 시세(時勢)의 추이(推移)

In considering the mining industry, it is necessary to study the production, consumption and price of ore and metals in every country of the world in order to determine the trend of the industry in the present and for the future. This study is necessary especially for exporting domestically produced are which is in excess of domestic consumption and for importing are, or metal where local production does not meet domestic demand. It will be treated of Au, Ag, Cu, Pb, Zn, W, Mo, which are the most important non-ferrous metals, and which greatly affect the mining industry of Korea. The presentation will concern itself only with the free world. About 1, 200 ton of gold are produced annually with little fluctiation in recent years. Most of the gold produced is consumed by advanced countries for industrial uses as well as for producing precious objects. The U.S.A. expends yearly about four times its domestic production and Japan about three times its domestic production for industry and arts. Because of the instability of the currency of the U.S.A., England and France, recently, the price of gold has been $ 41-42 per ounce, whereas the official price is $35.00 per ounce. It will be expected that the official price will be raised in the near future. As for silver, about 6,500 tons are produced annually with no special fluctuation change in recent years. However, the annual consumption is about 14,000 ton, so the supply and demand is extremely unbalanced. The shortage is made up by the sale of the U.S. treasury's reserve stock and the reclaiminig of silver from coins and other scrap. As the Treasury'S reserves will be exhausted in a year or two, the price of silver which is $1. 64 per ounce, will go up drastically in about a year. As for copper, 5,257,000 ton's were mined in 1966. It's production is being increased about 5% annually. However, consumption exceeds production by about 100,000 ton a year. The recent Foreign refinery copper price in the U.S.A is $ 60 per pound. The supply of copper being insufficient to meet international demands, the price will go up and with no prospect of being lowered in the near future even with the slight annual increase in production. About 2,100,000 to 2,200,000 tons of lead are produced annually. Consumption exceeds production by about 50,000-60,000 tons annually. The current price of lead in New York is $ 155 per pound. As the supply of lead is internationally stable, It will be believed that there will be no significant change in its price in the near future. In 1967, 3,926,000 tons of Zinc were produced. There is annual increase of 4-7% in production. The annual consumption exceeds production by 100,000 to 200,000 tons. The current zinc price in the St. Louis market inthe U.S.A. is $ 145 per pound. Even though its supply is stable and sufficient world wide, the consumption rate will increase at a faster pace than before; hence, the price will slowly go up. Tungsten mines yield about 11,000 tons a year. Its production has been relatively constant in the past few years. The amount of its consumption increases slowly world wide, but in the free world· there has been a slight annual decrease. However, since Red China has not been exporting their tungsten to other countries for several months, the price on the London market of S.T.U. of $Wo_3$ has increased to $ 44~46. Should Red China begin to export actively again the price will drop to $ 40~42. In 1967, 56,000 tons of Molybdenum were produced. Production exceeds consumption by 200,000 -30,000 tons annually. The current price in the U.S.A. is $ 1.72 per Mo pound. Since the rate of production in the U.S.A. is on the increase with large amounts of ore reserve, the price of molubdenum should not go up.