Australian copper production decreased in 2020 while global copper mine production stayed stable.

Due to the temporary mine shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 epidemic last year, a reduction of 3.5% was recorded during the period from April to May 2020. However, after the lockdowns were lifted gradually, global copper production increased about 1.5% in 2020.

COVID-19 also caused the dropping in production in some major copper mine-producing countries, especially Australia, Mexico, and the US.

The world’s refined copper balance for 2020 reached a deficit of 560,000 tons due to huge Chinese demand as China's copper imports increased by 38%.