The copper market in France

Copper is a chemical element (atomic number 29, atomic weight 63.55, symbol Cu), a light-red, fairly hard, very ductile metal.it is present in nature both in free form and as minerals (chalcopyrite, azurite, cuprite, malachite), and is present in trace amounts in soil, plants and animals .

It is one of the most widely used metals in the manufacture of containers, machinery parts, electrical conduits, coins and alloys such as bronzes and brasses. The global copper market was estimated at 320.33 billion euros in 2023 and is expected to reach 454 billion euros in 2030, with an average annual growth rate of 5.1% over the period. Electrical and electronics, one of the key segments, will record a CAGR of 2.2%, reaching 11.3 million metric tons.

This metal has benefited from the rapid recovery of the global economy and its status as a key metal for electrification: its value approached the $10,000 per tonne threshold on the London Metal Exchange (LME) in 2022, and is still closing in on it in 2024, representing its highest level since August 2011. On the French market, the value of copper production fell from nearly 200 million euros during the pandemic to 700 million in 2020, before stabilizing at 1100 million euros in 2022, before recording a further decline of 160 million in 2023. It should be noted, however, that France has not produced copper in the strict sense of the word since 1998. What it does produce consists in manufacturing copper by-products from refined copper imports and recycling its own copper scrap.

France is a major consumer of copper, since its economy is dependent on it, and as a result has a very negative trade balance. Through secondary smelting, it produces only around 17% of its overall consumption.