According to Beijing Antaike Information Development Company, replacement of copper with other materials in China may reach 1.08 million tonnes by 2015 up from about 660,000 tons last year on high prices.

Mr Zou Jiancheng analyst of Antaike said that tight refined metal supply and growing demand for wires, cables and machinery may spur more buyers to use other materials instead of copper.

According to researcher CRU, copper used in tubing and wiring, more than tripled in 2 years through 2010 on the London Metal Exchange, exceeding aluminum’s 60% climb. Concern that copper supply would fall short of demand helped prices to reach a record high of USD 10,190 per tonne in February of this year, discouraging consumption of the metal. Substitution may reduce demand for the metal by about 500,000 tonnes this year.

Mr Zou said that substitution becomes more likely when the refined copper price exceeds CNY 70,000 per tonne. Buyers begin considering substitution once the price gains above CNY 50,000. Copper for January delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 1.7% to CNY 58,670 per tonne.

(Sourced from Bloomberg.net)