Recent Events at the IWCC:
2024 Joint Meeting – Washington
The 2024 Joint Meeting was held in Washington D.C between the 12th and 14th of May. This annual event brought together the copper value chain, from mining companies to semis fabricators, as well as industry stakeholders, to discuss the major trends and issues impacting the sector. The event took place over three days, and included valuable and insightful presentations which gave delegates a comprehensive update on topics such as: the latest developments in the mining industry, commodity exchanges, critical minerals, Japanese overseas investments, the role of financial investors and the social impact of the industry.
The event also hosted multiple panels, covering topics such as social governance, end uses, critical minerals and finances. These panels gave delegates the perfect opportunity to ask questions and hear discussion from industry experts on a wide variety of topics relevant to the copper industry.
The IWCC joint statistical committee discussion was led by committee chair, Randy Nickle, Freeport McMoRan. Participants held a lively discussion about the latest statistics and market situation across major economies.
The IWCC Copper Committee, chaired by Dirk Harten, Schwermetall, heard a presentation by Georgina Hallett from the LME, covering primarily the recent sanctions on Russian-origin metals and responsible sourcing requirements.
The events keynote speaker, Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham, (pictured below) gave an insightful talk on the political climate in the US, and the outlook for the forthcoming election year.
Networking is always an important part of IWCC events. This year saw the inauguration of our Joint Meeting Fun Run, where delegates met by the Lincoln Memorial for a morning run along the Washington Monument (see below). This presented the perfect opportunity for participants to meet or catch up with fellow IWCC members.
Furthermore, the sightseeing tour, including the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the White House and the US Capitol Building further enhanced members’ ability to build and strengthen relationships with fellow IWCC members.
We would like to thank everybody who attended and supported this event. We are pleased to announce that the 2025 Joint Meeting will be held between the 12th and 14th of May, in Singapore, at the Shangri-La Hotel. Watch this space for further announcements and we are looking forward to seeing many of you there!
Product Committee Meetings
Brass Rod Committee Meeting – Porto
European Brass Rod fabricators met in Porto, Portugal on 30 April, at the spring meeting of the IWCC Brass Rod Committee.
The meeting covered these topics with a focus on sustainability and understanding the requirements and impact from new regulations such as the Drinking Water Directive. The meeting received a comprehensive presentation from Lara Van de Merckt, Eurometaux who gave a detailed update on the status of these recent regulatory changes. (see below)
Copper Tube Committee Meeting – London
The Copper Tube Committee brings together companies in Europe producing tube for both plumbing and industrial applications. The water tube market in Europe has seen significant substitution towards plastics in recent years. In response, a Water Tube Sub-Committee has been established to discuss and take action on plastics substitution in the European market.
The meeting began with delegates outlining regional forecasts for refined copper demand for 2024 and 2025. The Committee then discussed a possible water tube campaign advocating for the use of copper rather than plastic pipes, and saw multiple proposals from different marketing agencies. Delegates then heard an interesting and insightful presentation by Robert Pinter from the European Copper Institute. The presentation covered the heat pump market in Europe, covering topics such as the the future outlook for the market, threats of substitution and the large role heat pumps could play in Europe’s ‘greener’ energy initiatives and reduced emission targets.
We would like to thank all members in attendance, and look forward to our next meeting on the 23rd and 24th of October in Brussels, Belgium.
Regulatory Affairs Committee Meeting – Vienna
The IWCC European Regulatory Affairs & Advocacy Committee was held in Vienna on the 5th and 6th of June. Building on the successful initial meeting in December 2023, the meeting began with three interesting and insightful presentations by John Lindberg, Anna-Maria Karjalainen and Quentin de Hults, which addressed global sustainability initiatives effecting the metals industry, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the next EU Parliament and Commission respectively.
A discussion was then held on the impact of rules of origin requirements in EU trade agreements requiring a semi to contain over 50% of its raw material to be produced in the EU at any point. The policy was seen as too inflexible and not practical, especially should any shortage of EU produced cathode arise. It was agreed that the IWCC would look into this matter further and report on possible advocacy approaches in particular working with other associations such as Eurometaux or WVM.
Finally, several committee members were involved in the IWCC-CDA US working group, on the scope and methodology for calculating recycled content in semis production processes. Members discussed which scope would be most appropriate and consistent for calculating recycled content, and the need for transparency in how the recycled content of a semi was determined.
We would like to thank all committee members in attendance, and look forward to our Autumn Meeting on the 14th of October.
Copper Bars and Rolled Metal Committee Meetings – Dusseldorf
The IWCC Copper Bars Committee and Rolled Metal Committee held separate meetings in Duesseldorf in June. The meetings heard from copper market Expert Jonathan Barnes, Project Blue, who spoke primarily about major trends impacting on the global and European copper market, giving insights into the FRP market.
Each committee also had ‘deep dive’ discussions on trade flows into and out of the European market for their respective products, as well as updates on the European regulations and market situations impacting each product.
This event was also the perfect opportunity for members of both committees to network and strengthen relationships with IWCC members from different product committees during a dinner held at a local German restaurant.
We would like to thank all committee members in attendance, and thank Jonathan Barnes for his interesting and insightful presentation. We look forward to the next Rolled Metal Committee meeting, to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, between the 24th and 26th of June 2025. Further information regarding the location and date of the next Copper Bars Committee Meeting will be announced in further newsletter installments.
IWCC employees have also been present at a wide variety of other industry events in the past few months, such as ICA meetings in Seville, the Copper Club dinner, CDA and ICA meetings in New York and ICSG meetings in Lisbon.
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.