Table Of ContentBase Metals Handbook
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BMH
Base Metals Handbook
The definitive reference source to the
major base metals
Edited by Martin Thompson
Third edition
WOODHEAD PUBLISHING LIMITED
Cambridge England
Published by Woodhead Publishing Limited
80 High Street, Sawston, Cambridge CB22 3HJ, UK
www.woodheadpublishing.com
First published 1993, Woodhead Publishing Limited
This edition published 2006, Woodhead Publishing Limited and CRC Press LLC
Reprinted 2011, Woodhead Publishing Limited
© Woodhead Publishing Limited, 2006
The authors have asserted their moral rights
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources.
Reprinted material is quoted with permission, and sources are indicated. Reasonable
efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the authors and the
publishers cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials. Neither the
authors nor the publishers, nor anyone else associated with this publication, shall be
liable for any loss, damage or liability directly or indirectly caused or alleged to be
caused by this book.
Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming and
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writing from Woodhead Publishing Limited.
The consent of Woodhead Publishing Limited does not extend to copying for general
distribution, for promotion, for creating new works, or for resale. Specific permission
must be obtained in writing from Woodhead Publishing Limited for such copying.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation, without intent to
infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-84569-154-7 (print)
ISBN 978-1-84569-167 -7 (online)
Typeset by SNP Best-set Typesetter Ltd, Hong Kong
Printed by RR Donnelley, Cambridgeshire, UK
Editor's introduction
The Base Metals Handbook was first published in 1993 and quickly
established itself as a valuable and widely used reference book
which was regularly updated. A new edition with mostly new
authors appeared in 2001, and continuing changes and develop
ments in the world of metals have now called for a further edition.
The authors remain the same.
The purposes of the Base Metals Handbook remain the same: to
provide thorough yet compact descriptions of the metals. This
includes their histories (which vary in length from a century or so
to several millennia), where they are found and how they are
extracted, what they are used for, how they are sold and what may
be their prospects, both positive and negative. Included are mineral
reserves, production processes, end-use consumption trends, trade
patterns, and comprehensive tables of production, consumption,
imports, exports, stocks, etc. and lists of mines, smelters and refiner
ies throughout the world. In addition, there is a section on the devel
opment of the marketing of the metals, and the metal exchanges. The
aim ofthe book, therefore, is to present both a comprehensive survey
of the base metals, giving detailed descriptions of their various
aspects, and at the same time to provide a comprehensive work for
reference.
While the book contains a substantial volume of data derived from
a wide variety of sources, therefore, it is not its function to act as a
substitute for these sources, but rather to set the information they
provide in a wider context and attempt to explain its significance.
The book will be of value to all those involved in the base metals
whether as producers, consumers, brokers, traders, analysts, finan
cial advisers Or investors. It will also be of great interest to mining
engineers and metallurgists, for whom it will provide a clear per
spective on how their areas of expertise fit into the broader context
of the markets as a whole.
The Base Metals Handbook is divided into seven major sections.
The first of these provides a general introduction to the history,
structure and workings of the base metals markets, with particular
reference to the London Metal Exchange (LME), and the subsequent
sections are devoted to the six metals in turn. The contributors, who
also wrote the 2001 edition, are all experienced metals market pro
fessionals and acknowledged experts in their respective fields:
vii
Editor's introduction
Christopher Green, former Chairman of the London Metal Exchange,
and Barclays Metals Group, has contributed the section on markets;
Angus MacMillan of Bache Financial has again written the chapter
on aluminium; Phillip Crowson, former Chief Economist of Rio
Tinto and Director of the LME, has written on lead, zinc and tin; and
Peter Cranfield, former Market Research Manager of the Stainless
Steel Materials Group of BHP Billiton, has written on nickel. As in
the first edition of the Handbook, the copper section has been
written by myself.
Finally, I would like to thank Neil Wenborn of Woodhead
Publishing for his support and advice in producing this edition.
Martin Thompson
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The contributors
Martin Thompson (Editor) - Chapter 3
Martin Thompson retired as Commercial Adviser from Rio Tinto pIc
in 1999, having joined the company in 1968. Initially he was
involved in iron ore and pyrites, but from 1976 onwards he dealt
mainly with the base metals, specialising in copper. He has written
regularly on the metal, and was co-author of The international
copper industry (Woodhead Publishing, 2002); he also undertook an
examination of an international trade dispute on behalf of GATT. He
was Chairman of the British Copper Development Association, Vice
Chairman of the European Copper Institute, and Chairman of the
Statistical Committee of the International Copper Study Group.
Previously he worked for Consolidated Tin Smelters Ltd, and the
merchant bank N.M. Rothschild and Sons, in London and Rhodesia.
Christopher Green - Chapter 1
From 1994 until his retirement in 2000, Christopher Green was
Chairman of Barclays Metals Group, the Commodities Division of
Barclays Capital; he joined the board of Barclays Metals Limited in
1991. Previously, he had joined Henry Gardner & Co. Ltd (part of the
Amalgamated Metal Corporation) in 1958, AmetaIco Ltd (an Amax
subsidiary) in 1964, becoming a Director in 1970, responsible for all
base metal physical trading and LME operations, and in 1976 Cerro
Metals (UK) Ltd as Chief Executive to develop trading (primarily in
copper) and also LME broking.
Christopher Green served on the LME Committee from 1973 until
1982, being Vice Chairman from 1977 to 1981. In 1982 he became a
Director of the LME's then governing body, the Metal Market and
Exchange Co. Ltd, and from 1987 to 1990 he was a director and
Chairman of the London Metal Exchange Ltd, the new body formed
to take over the running of the LME in the aftermath of the tin crisis.
In 1999 he was made Copper Man of the Year by the Copper
Club of the USA. He is a trustee of the Institute for Archaeo-
Metallurgical Studies.
Angus MacMillan - Chapter 2
Having spent time in the electricity and automobile industries,
Angus MacMillan has worked for over two decades analysing the
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The contributors
markets for base metals. For the past three years he has worked as
Minerals Strategist with Bache Financial, the metals broker and a
Category Two member of the London Metal Exchange. Prior to that
he worked for consultants Brook Hunt, before which he spent nine
years as Research Manager at Billiton Metals, a ring-dealing member
of the LME. In this capacity he was responsible for writing and over
seeing the production of research material on all the LME-traded
base metals.
Prior to this he worked for five years as Director, Metals Research
with Shearson Lehman Brothers, where he was responsible for over
seeing the output of a team producing research on a number of base
metals, including some of the steel-alloying metals. His initial
involvement with the metals industry began in the 1980s when he
worked with Commodities Research Unit, specialising in the steel
industry.
Phillip Crowson - Chapters 4, 5 and 7
Phillip Crowson retired as Chief Economist of Rio Tinto (then known
as RTZ-CRA) at the beginning of 1997. He had held the post
from 1981, having joined the Economics Department of the RTZ
Corporation in 1971. Until his retirement he was a director of several
Rio Tinto subsidiaries, and he took an active role in many industry
organisations, including the European Copper Institute (Chairman),
and the Mining Association of the United Kingdom (President). He
previously worked as an economist in the UK chemicals industry,
for Distillers (1961-67), for BP Chemicals (1967-68), and for
Albright and Wilson (1968-71). In 1964 he was seconded to the
National Economic Development Officer (NEDO).
Phillip Crowson was an Invited Director of the LME for 12 years
until he retired in 2000. He edits the biennial publication Minerals
Handbook and is the author of Inside Mining. The Economics of the
Supply and Demand of Minerals and Metals, published by Mining
Journal Books in 1998 and Astride Mining; Issues and Policies for
the Mineral Industry (Mining Journal Books, 2003). He has written
many published papers and articles on aspects of the mineral indus
tries, including contributed chapters to several books, and he also
lectures frequently. He recently edited Managing Metals Price Risk
with the London Metal Exchange. He is an Honorary Professor at the
Centre for Energy, Mineral, and Petroleum Law and Policy at the
University of Dundee. He sits on the Editorial Advisory Boards of
Natural Resources Forum and Raw Materials Report.
Peter Cranfield - Chapter 6
Peter Cranfield is an independent consultant specialising in market
research in the nickel and stainless steel industries. He worked for
x
The contributors
Billiton for 21 years until 2003 in a number of roles, including strate
gic planning, commodities analysis and mergers and acquisitions.
He played a key role in developing Gencor's nickel strategy and in
the Billiton merger with QNI and the subsequent business plans of
the merged companies. Before that he was 12 years with Inca, the
last six as Market Research Manager for Europe. He has an MBA
from Warwick University and a B.Sc (Economics) from London
University.
xi
Sources of data
The data contained in this handbook have come from a wide range
of sources; some are standard works of reference, familiar to most
analysts of the metal markets, while others are less well known.
While the following list is by no means comprehensive, it does
include the major publications used in the compilation of tables as
well as data contained in the text.
• London Metal Exchange
• CRU
• World Bureau of Metal Statistics
• Brook Hunt
• International Aluminium Association
• Aluminum Association
• European Aluminium Association
• Japanese Aluminium Federation
• Car Manufacturers' Institute
• International Copper Study Group
• International Wrought Copper Council
• International Tin Research Institute
• International Tin Council
• International Lead Zinc Study Group
• US Geological Survey
• International Nickel Study Group
• Inco World Stainless Steel Statistics
• Billiton Nickel
Information has also been gathered from a variety of individual
company sources, as well as from press reports; sources included in
particular are Metal Bulletin, American Metal Market, Mining
Journal and Metals Week.
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