Continued cutbacks in new-housing construction starts have reduced need for copper and brass mill products this year. The housing industry is by far the largest end user of copper, around 40%. And that's why midyear shipments by copper and brass service centers are 8.4% lower at 207.8 million pounds than the 226.8 million shipped in the January–June period of 2006.

For the initial six months of the year, total copper shipments are down 2% from the companion period of last year, while alloy shipments are down an even sharper 12.6%, reports Frank Brown, executive director of the Copper & Brass Servicenter Association in Wayne, Pa.

Year-to-year copper rod and bar shipments are up 7.63%, "the only significant bright spot" for distributors this year, says the industry group. That's because statistics show copper sheet is down 6.3%, copper plate has crashed 16.5%, copper pipe is off 13.5%, 200-series brass sheet is down 14% and 200-series brass plate has collapsed by 32%, while 300-series rod and bar has dropped 11.4%.