Buyers have found alternatives to Asarco

Staff -- Purchasing, 11/3/2005

Buyers haven't missed a beat in sourcing copper rod from smaller domestic producers and merchants representing foreign mills since the strike that has curtailed copper cathode and rod production since July at Asarco, the Grupo Mexico subsidiary in Arizona. Copper rod is used to make building wire used in residential, commercial and industrial construction and energy cable products. The smaller mills are reporting stronger sales, as buyers are sourcing more copper rod tonnage than usual. Buyer survey show that deliveries have fallen from five weeks in January to three weeks in October. Also, when questioned about materials in short supply, neither copper rod nor brass rod have made the list. That's because the Asarco strike has been a boon to smaller producers, the traders and metals dealers agree. "There is a rod market out there," agrees Macquarie Bank's metals analyst Adam Rowley.