Recent events at the IWCC:

Launch of the ‘Copper For Sustainable Plumbing’ Campaign

The IWCC is very excited to announce that it has launched a social media marketing campaign in partnership with Hopscotch Europe entitled ‘Copper for Sustainable Plumbing.’

The primary objective of the campaign is the promotion of copper as a building material and the benefits of the use of copper water tubes over plastic alternatives.

For more information and articles about these benefits please see the ‘Why Copper?’ page on our website. The campaign, which stemmed from an ongoing discussion in meetings of the IWCC Copper Tube Committee, embodies the strong commitment at the IWCC to represent our Fabricator members and take direct action on behalf of the industry to address issues facing copper tube producers.

The logo of the campaign (pictured to the right), combines copper tubes and the green and copper colours to emphasise the sustainable nature of copper and its suitability as a building material over plastic alternatives looking towards a greener and more sustainable future. We look forward to updating members on the success of our campaign via our website, LinkedIn and in future newsletter instalments.


Trip to Asia

Throughout September the IWCC travelled across Asia, meeting with members in Japan, China, Singapore, Korea and Taiwan, to update on developments within the IWCC in the past 18 months, and to discuss how we look to expand on activities in the region going forward. We would like to thank Walsin Lihwa, Boway, Poonsang, Dowa and the JCBA (pictured below) for their hospitality and engagement in both engaging and productive discussions.

The IWCC also met with the China Nonferrous Metals Fabrication Industry Association (CNFIA), to explore collaborative initiatives under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2023. It was great to engage with so many IWCC members and we look forward to seeing many of you present at our Joint Meeting in Singapore in May 2025.


Joint Statistical Committee LME Week Meeting – London

Our LME week began with the Joint Statistical Committee meeting, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Members were given a breakdown of copper demand by region for all major markets across Europe, Asia and North America, and the annual change in demand by region since 2019. This built into a wider discussion of  market trends, the potential impact of the US election on the copper market, the impact of interest rates on copper demand and the outlook for 2025. IWCC members can access the full dataset on our website. The next meeting of the Joint Statistical Committee will be at the Joint Meeting held in Singapore, in May 2025.

Copper Committee LME Week Meeting – London

The IWCC Copper Committee meeting, chaired by Dirk Harten, Schwermetall, began with an interesting and insightful presentation by Robert Edwards, CRU, who gave members his outlook for the copper market in 2025 regarding demand, supply and scrap. The committee then heard from Juan Carlos Guajardo, who gave a comprehensive presentation on the Latin American mining industry, with regional a regional breakdown of the political climate in each country and the effect this had on copper mine production. Finally, the committee heard an update about the LME, the future plans for the exchange and how it plans to modernise itself in 2025.

We would like to thank both Robert Edwards and Juan Carlos Guajardo for their presentations, and thank committee members present for their contribution to an engaging discussion. The next meeting of the Copper Committee will be at the Joint Meeting held in Singapore, in May 2025.

IWCC delegates were also present at a number of LME Week events pictured below, including the ICA Seminar, China Nonferrous Metals Fabrication Industry Association Seminar, the Wood Mackenzie Forum, as well as our President, Ian Scarlett, chairing the ICSG Advisory Panel meeting. Overall, it was great to interact with and represent IWCC members throughout the week.


IWCC Lead Free Brass Initiative 

IWCC Vice President Mike Smith joined an OECD Workshop, to talk about and emphasise the importance of the copper alloy fabricating industry developing lead free alternatives for traditional brass products


Forthcoming IWCC events and meetings:

Product Committees

The IWCC European Product Committees will hold a number of events and meetings in the coming months, including:

Brass Rod Committee — 16th and 17th of October, Edinburgh

Copper Wire Rod Committee — 21st of October, held Online

Copper Tube Committee — 23rd and 24th of October, Brussels

 

Regulatory Affairs Committee

The IWCC Regulatory Affairs committee will meet on the 14th of October, online, to discuss topics such as EU Rules of Origin and the Net Zero Industries Act.

Technical Seminar

The 2025 IWCC Technical Seminar will be held in the USA between the 2nd and 6th of March. The event will begin with a plant visit to the Wieland recycling plant in Shelbyville, Kentucky. The event will then move to Dallas, where a seminar focusing on downstream processes will be held, before a second plant visit to the Encore Wire plant in McKinney, Texas. Registration for the event will open soon, and we look forward to seeing many of you there.


The purpose of this Newsletter is to strengthen the relationship between the IWCC and our members through updates on recent news and forthcoming events. We want to hear from you and encourage any of our members who would like more information or have any questions about future events, to send us an email or a message on our website and we can arrange a call together.