Metal with a long history - copper
Copper is one of the earliest ancient metals discovered by mankind.
China has a long history of using copper. About six or seven thousand years ago, the ancestors of the Chinese discovered and began to use copper. In 1973, a semicircular copper fragment was unearthed from the Jiangzhai site in Lintong, Shaanxi Province, and was identified as brass. In 1975, a bronze knife was unearthed from the Majiayao Cultural Site of Linjia in Dongxiang, Gansu Province (around 3000 BC). This is the earliest bronze ware discovered in China and is proof that China has entered the Bronze Age. Compared with West Asia, South Asia and North Africa, which entered the Bronze Age about 6,500 years ago, the Bronze Age in China arrived later. There was an era in China when bronze and stone tools were used together, dating from about 5,500 to 4,500 years ago. China invented bronze alloys on this basis, which is the same as the development model of bronze ware in the world.
Metallic copper, element symbol Cu, atomic weight 63.54, specific gravity 8.92, melting point 1083"C. Pure copper is light rose or light red. After a copper oxide film is formed on the surface, the appearance is copper-colored. Copper has many valuable physical and chemical properties.
Copper international market distribution
According to statistics from the British Commodities Research Institute (CRU), the total global refined copper production in 2018 was 23.8826 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.05%. The top five countries in global production are China, Chile, Japan and the United States. The global output of the above five countries accounts for 64.70%. In 2018, the global supply of copper concentrate was relatively loose, ensuring normal production of refined copper. Asia still ranks first in refined copper production, and America and Africa are still the main producing areas of wet copper. Judging from the trend of refined copper production in the past three years, China is the main contributor to the growth of global refined copper, and with the rapid expansion of China's smelting capacity in the next two years, China's refined copper production will remain at a high level.
According to CRU statistics, global refined copper consumption reached 23.5982 million tons in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%. China, the United States, Germany, Japan, and South Korea rank among the top five global copper consumers, with a total refined copper consumption of 16.2534 million tons, accounting for 68.88% of the world. In terms of countries and regions, Asia is still the region with the largest consumption of refined copper, and China is still the main driving force for the growth of global copper consumption; most European and American countries have basically remained stable or increased slightly, which has also supported the growth of global refined copper consumption. .
Industrial uses of copper
Copper is a nonferrous metal closely related to human beings. It is widely used in electrical, light industry, machinery manufacturing, construction industry, defense industry and other fields. It is second only to aluminum in the consumption of nonferrous metal materials in China. Copper is a red metal and also a green metal. It is said to be a green metal mainly because it has a low melting point and is easy to remelt and resmelt, so it is quite cheap to recycle. In ancient times, it was mainly used for casting utensils, works of art and weapons. The more famous utensils and works of art include the Stepmother Wu Ding and the Siyang Fang Zun.
Electrical and Electronics Market
The electrical and electronics market accounts for approximately 28% of the total. In 1997, these two markets became the second largest end users of copper consumption, with a 25% market share. In many electrical products (such as wires, busbars, transformer windings, heavy-duty motors, telephone wires and telephone cables), copper has a long service life, and only after 20 to 50 years can the copper in it be recycled. Other electrical appliances and electronic products containing copper (such as small appliances and consumer electronics) have a shorter service life, generally 5 to 10 years. Commercial electronics and large appliances are often recycled because they contain other precious metals in addition to copper. Still, recycling rates for small consumer electronics are quite low because they contain little copper.
transportation equipment
Transportation equipment is the third largest market for copper, accounting for about 13% of the total, basically the same as in the 1960s. Although the importance of transportation has not changed, the form in which copper is used has changed significantly. For many years, automatic radiators were the most important end user in this area; however, the use of copper in automatic appliances and electronics has grown rapidly, while its use in the heat exchanger market has declined. The average service life of a car is 10-15 years, and almost all the copper (including radiators and wiring) is recycled before it is completely disassembled and recycled.
Industrial machines and equipment
Industrial machinery and equipment is another major application market, where copper tends to have a relatively long service life. Coins and arms are the main end users in this regard. Bullets are rarely recycled, some coins can be melted down, and many are kept by collectors or savers and cannot be recycled. In machinery and transport vehicle manufacturing, it is used to manufacture industrial valves and fittings, instruments, plain bearings, moulds, heat exchangers and pumps, etc.
It is widely used in the chemical industry to manufacture vacuum vessels, distillation pots, brewing pots, etc.
In the defense industry, it is used to make bullets, artillery shells, gun parts, etc. For every 3 million rounds of bullets produced, 13 to 14 tons of copper are needed.
In the construction industry, it is used as various pipes, pipe fittings, decorative devices, etc.
