WHERE WE ARE

HOW WE OPERATE

The IWCC is a trade association for the copper fabricating industry. What we do is determined by the industry. The Council is therefore governed by the members in the General Assembly, which is held annually. During the year its affairs are run by the Executive Board and by specialist Committees.

IWCC Officers

The officers of the Council are elected by members from the copper industry. They are currently:

Secretariat

The staff of the Council are:

Mark Loveitt - Secretary General
Alastair Warner – Assistant Secretary
Daniela Ihle - Conference Manager
Derren Nisbet - Data Manager 

Membership

The IWCC has two types of members:

• National Groups, which are associations of individual companies which are members of the IWCC en bloc
• Corporate Members, for companies from countries which do not have national associations able or willing to join the IWCC as National Groups

WHAT WE DO

Executive Board

The Executive Board manages the affairs of the IWCC and is responsible for policy making and direction. The members of the Executive Board are listed here. In the last year, the Board has met on the following occasions

General Assembly

The General Assembly is in effect the Annual General Meeting of the IWCC. It is open to all members. A list of the locations of the General Assemblies since 1953 is given here. The 2008 General Assembly was held in Kyoto on 30 October.

In addition to transacting the formal business of the IWCC delegates in Kyoto also heard a series of seven presentations on the current and future outlook for the copper industry; these were:

The Japanese economy – past, present and future – Professor Tsutomu Miyagawa, Faculty of Economics, Gakushuin University

METI’s innovation policy – Mr. Yoshihisa Tabata, Director for Nonferrous Metals, Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI)

The Japanese cable industry – Mr. Kazuhiko Ohashi, Chairman of The Japanese Electric Wire & Cable Makers Association, and President of Fujikura Ltd.

The outlook for the copper and copper alloy industry in Japan for the non-electrical sector – Copper and copper alloy products in Japan, Mr. Hiroyuki Nakayama, Chairman of the Japan Copper and Brass Association, and Senior Managing Director & President of Aluminium & Copper Company, Kobe Steel, Ltd.

Environmental Issues: Opportunities and Threats – Dr. Anton Klassert, Deutsches Kupferinstitut Berufsverband e.V.

The post-Olympic effect: What happens now in China? – Mr. Simon Hunt, Simon Hunt Strategic Services Ltd.

Copper promotion in Asia – structure and activities – Mr. Colin May, Director – Market Development East Asia, International Copper Association, Ltd.

The papers and slides are available in the Members Area of the Website by clicking here.

Following the General Assembly delegates had the opportunity to visit the copper wire rod plant of Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. in Osaka, the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation Power Train Plant in Kyoto and the Daikin Industries Ltd., air conditioner plant at Kusatsu. Delegates that participated in the visit to Mitsubishi were privileged to test drive the new iMIEV all electric powered auto that Mitsubishi will put into commercial production in 2009.

IWCC Joint Meeting with Copper Producers

The list of papers and speakers are available here. The texts, visual presentations and edited transcripts are available to the participants in the Members area.

The industry plans to hold its next Joint Meeting in Seoul in May, 2009.

A list of the locations of Joint Meetings since 1957 is given here. For the most recent years a list of the papers given at the meeting can be viewed by clicking on the location.

Copper Committee

The IWCC Copper Committee brings together professional metal buying experts in the copper fabricating industry. The Committee focuses on the availability of copper raw materials and on the structure of copper trading on the terminal markets, in particular the London Metal Exchange.

For a list of Committee members, click here

Statistics

A key feature of the work of the IWCC is the collection, collation and dissemination to its members of industry-specific statistical data. As the industry has gradually become more concentrated, and the number of companies in each sub-sector of the business in each country has shrunk, the IWCC has recognised a potential problem of short-term over-transparency, which might be incompatible with competition law as it has been developed, especially in the EU and its Member States. The IWCC operates within an Information Exchange Policy regulating the degree of transparency in IWCC data. IWCC Members wishing to access the Policy should click here.

Statistical Committee

The Statistical Committee brings together those in National Groups who collect and collate for the industry in their own countries and some of the principal users of the data in major companies. For a list of Members, click here. The Committee oversees the coverage, accuracy and promptness of IWCC's data series, and the methodologies used.

The Statistical Bulletin contains national data on semis production, imports, exports and apparent demand which are available to Members on the Website. In line with the Information Exchange Policy, for countries in Europe, national data by semis type are given up to 2003 and thereafter by total copper and total alloy. The Europe table shows the latest available quarterly data for semis production and demand. Trade data for the EU Accession States have been added to improve the range of data available. Outside Europe, detailed data are available by quarter for Japan and China and some production and trade data are available for Australia, Mexico, South Korea and the USA. Short-term forecasts for semis production and demand are available for most countries, subject to the IWCC’s Information Exchange Policy which covers the risk of disclosure of potentially commercially sensitive company-specific data.

In addition to semis data, the site also contains weekly updates of developments on the LME, monthly macro-economic data published by EU, OECD, and the IWCC Orders Booked Indices, regarded as a leading indicator for the semis industry.

All of these tables are available in the Members area

The IWCC also produces an annual report on trade in copper and copper alloy semis. This is available to Members and Non-Members from the publication page.

Forecasting

The Joint Forecasting Group prepares regular supply and demand forecasts for unwrought copper. A list of Members is available here. To assist the work of the Joint Forecasting Group, the Secretariat continues to assemble forecasts from all of the major copper producing and consuming countries throughout the world. Unlike the forecasts of many analysts and commentators, the IWCC forecasts are made on a global basis, rather than the so-called 'Western World' basis. The latest forecasts are available to the copper industry by clicking here.

The IWCC Survey of Capacities of Copper Mines, Smelters, Refineries and Copper Wire Rod Plants is available to the copper industry by clicking here. Non-Members who wish to have access to the Capacity Survey are requested to complete the on-line order form.

Technical Committee

The IWCC Technical Committee organises the Council's Technical Program. This comprises Surveys and the annual Technical Seminar. For a list of Technical Committee members, click here. A list of the locations of the Technical Seminars since 1984 is here. For the most recent years a list of the papers given at the seminar can be viewed by clicking on the location.

The 2008 Technical Seminar on “Sheet and Strip for Modern Applications” was held in Chicago in March, 2008. 27 Papers were presented at the Seminar which was followed by a programme of plant visits to the semis plants of Luvata in Buffalo, New York and PMX in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The 2009 Technical Seminar will be held in Barcelona in March, 2009. The subject will be "Melting and Casting".

Product Committees

The IWCC has a number of Product Committees where Member companies manufacturing the particular products discuss matters of concern to their sectors. There are at present five Product Committees, whose Members can be found by clicking the relevant committee.

• Brass Rod
• Copper Bars
• Copper Water Tube
• Copper Wire Rod
• Rolled Metal

RELATIONS WITH EXTERNAL BODIES

In the last year, the Council has been represented at the following meetings:

International Copper Study Group

• Statistical Committee – April 2008 and October 2008 in Lisbon
• Economic and Environment Committee – April 2008 in Lisbon and October 2008 in London

International Copper Association

International Council on Mining and Metals

• October, 2007, London

International Consultative Group of Non-Ferrous Metals Statisticians

• September 2008 in Brussels

The Secretary General chairs the session on copper.