Copper: World Refinery Production, By Country Or Locality

This table presents detailed data on copper refinery production worldwide, broken down by country or locality and further categorized into primary and secondary sources, including electrowon copper produced by solvent extraction and electrowinning. This information is crucial for understanding global copper supply dynamics, which directly impact industries such as electrical wiring, electronics, construction, and transportation. Tracking refinery production helps stakeholders assess market trends, forecast supply availability, and make informed decisions related to resource management, trade policies, and investment in mining and refining infrastructure.

Analysis of the data from 2017 to 2021 reveals that Chile remains the dominant copper refinery producer, with total output consistently exceeding 2.2 million metric tons annually, although production dipped slightly from 2,329,300 metric tons in 2020 to 2,274,000 metric tons in 2021. China shows a strong upward trend, increasing total refinery production from approximately 8.9 million metric tons in 2017 to over 10.4 million metric tons in 2021, underscoring its growing role in the copper market. The United States experienced a decline in total refinery production from 1.08 million metric tons in 2017 to 971,000 metric tons in 2021, with a notable drop in the “other” primary category in 2020, likely reflecting operational challenges. Meanwhile, countries like Iran and Indonesia showed steady increases in total production, with Iran’s output rising from 160,200 metric tons in 2017 to 303,500 metric tons in 2021, and Indonesia rebounding from a low in 2019 to 289,542 metric tons in 2021. Overall, global refinery production grew modestly from 23.9 million metric tons in 2017 to 25.3 million metric tons in 2021, reflecting ongoing demand and investment in copper refining capacity.

TABLE 22
COPPER: WORLD REFINERY PRODUCTION, BY COUNTRY OR LOCALITY1, 2

(Metric tons)

Country or locality	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
Argentina, secondarye	16000		16000		16000		16000		16000
Australia, primary:
Leaching, electrowon	26000		23000		24900	r	24700	r	23000
Other	360000		354000		401800	r	402600	r	361800
Total	386000		377000		426700	r	427300	r	384800
Austria, secondary	109823		107210		128207		132019		133482
Belgium:
Primary	235500		230800		209600		188000		227900
Secondary	163400		159400		147000		133500		158600
Total	398900		390200		356600		321500		386500
Bolivia, leaching, electrowon	2269		3114		3097		1754		1694
Brazil:
Primary	118100		131800		133500		85900		56400
Secondary	24800		15300		41700		24000		7100
Total	142900		147100		175200		109900		63500
Bulgaria:3
Primary	196500	r	197200	r	180300	r	195700	r	188300
Secondary	32000	r	26900	r	26900	r	29200	r	30700
Total	228500		224100	r	207200	r	224900	r	219000
Burma, leaching, electrowon	115100		153000		153100		185000		33900
Canada:
Primary	300700	3	259300	3	253100	3	246100	r	255400
Secondary	29700	3	32000	3	28100	3	30000		31100
Total	330400	3	291300	3	281200	3	276100	r	286500
Chile, primary:
Leaching, electrowon	1586200		1575300		1580200		1467500		1414400
Other	843300		885900		688900		861800		859600
Total	2429500		2461200		2269100		2329300		2274000
China:
Primary:
Leaching, electrowon	50000		55000		55700		50100		55000
Other	6564300		7001800		7556400		7999800		8175000
Total, primary	6614300		7056800		7612100		8049900		8230000
Secondary	2300800		2234600		2170800		1975500		2257000
Total, primary and secondary	8915100		9291400		9782900		10025400		10487000
Congo (Brazzaville), leaching, electrowon	15400		15875		13607	r	10000	e	10000	e
Congo (Kinshasa), primary:
Leaching, electrowon	818730		945607		1126500		1325600		1420000
Other	11757		7631		14838		21663		26691
Total	830487		953238		1141338		1347263		1446691
Cyprus, leaching, electrowon	1293		908		703		--		--
Egypt, secondarye	100000		100000		100000		100000		100000
Finland:
Primary	126500	3	132100	3	114727		139888	r	143761
Secondary	6700	3	7000	3	5642		5959	r	7545
Total	133200	3	139100	3	120369		145847		151306
Germany:
Primary	413200		396700		336300	r	358000		383800
Secondary	281200		275700		266400	r	285000		231200
Total	694400		672400		602700	r	643000		615000
India:
Primary	819000		541000		424200		333500		488600
Secondary	10000		10000		2000		--		--
Total	829000		551000		426200		333500		488600
See footnotes at end of table.
TABLE 22—Continued
COPPER: WORLD REFINERY PRODUCTION, BY COUNTRY OR LOCALITY1, 2

(Metric tons)

Country or locality	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
Indonesia, primary:
Leaching, electrowon	23160		17071		16777		5377		19045
Other	224015		213853		163427		263208		270497
Total	247175		230924		180204		268585		289542
Iran:
Primary:
Leaching, electrowon	13200		15700		16400		16400		22800
Other	90000		149600		160400		167500		192000
Total, primary	103200		165300		176800		183900		214800
Secondary	57000		73300		84700		95500		88700
Total, primary and secondary	160200		238600		261500		279400		303500
Italy, secondary	8700		7200		9800		15000		15400
Japan:
Primary	1166194		1241100		1152847		1242743		1119400
Secondary	321886		353417		342512		340348		390700
Total	1488080		1594517		1495359		1583091		1510100
Kazakhstan, primary:
Leaching, electrowon	42200		42700		39500		38200		41300
Other	426191		438115		472327		477016		458604
Total	468391		480815		511827		515216		499904
Korea, North:e
Primary	10000		10000		10000		10000		10000
Secondary	5000		5000		5000		5000		5000
Total	15000		15000		15000		15000		15000
Korea, Republic of:
Primary	501300		500500		473600		489500		476300
Secondary	163000		174000		189400		181800		171100
Total	664300		674500		663000		671300		647400
Laos, leaching, electrowon	62941		68200		72006		39730		5341
Mexico:
Primary:
Leaching, electrowon	202000		179300		187600		166800		183000
Other	256300		289300		294300		320100		284800
Total, primary	458300		468600		481900		486900		467800
Secondarye	5000		5000		5000		5000		5000
Total, primary and secondary	463300		473600		486900		491900		472800
Mongolia, leaching, electrowon	14689		14175		11758		9488		9690
Namibia, leaching, electrowon	15466		15177		14940		15741		950
North Macedonia, leaching, electrowon	958		768		719		722		700
Norway, primary	22700		20600		22000		20500		20100
Oman, primary	5100		6000		--		--		--
Peru, primary:
Leaching, electrowon	62421		66257		66295		63432	r	76201
Other	272996		270541		241567		256322		260200
Total	335417		336798		307862		319754	r	336401
Philippines, primary	205000		170800		217300		220900		206200
Poland:
Primary	429600		423600		463600		428500		448800
Secondary	92400		78200		102000		131800		128700
Total	522000		501800		565600		560300		577500
Russia:
Primary:
Leaching, electrowon	1300	4	1200	4	1200	4	1100	r, 4	1400
Other	729700	4	781400	4	790600	4	811500	r, 4	753700
Total, primary	731000	4	782600	4	791800	4	812600	r, 4	755100
Secondary	218000	4	233400	4	236200	4	242400	r, 4	226100
Total, primary and secondary	949000	4	1016000	4	1028000	4	1055000	r, 4	981200
See footnotes at end of table.
TABLE 22—Continued
COPPER: WORLD REFINERY PRODUCTION, BY COUNTRY OR LOCALITY1, 2

(Metric tons)

Country or locality	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
Serbia:
Primary	67752		65700	r, 3	72500	r, 3	45100		57400
Secondary	1469		1300	r, 3	1500	r, 3	1900		900
Total	69221		67000	r, 3	74000	3	47000		58300
South Africa, primary	66200		43900		35600		21800		20400
Spain:
Primary:
Leaching, electrowon	73664		70738		48090		54352		13652
Other	260700		273200		252900		256600		252800
Total, primary	334364		343938		300990		310952		266452
Secondary	80800		79900		85300		88700		94200
Total, primary and secondary	415164		423838		386290		399652		360652
Sweden:
Primary	157500		167900		146600		167200		162800	3
Secondary	61500		56100		54400		58800		60200	3
Total	219000		224000		201000		226000		223000	3
Turkey:
Primary	88000		116300		106000		116100		117000
Secondary	7000		10000		10000	e	10000	e	10000	e
Total	95000		126300		116000		126100		127000
Ukraine, secondary	25186		24901		20409		24335		28817
United States:
Primary:
Leaching, electrowon	557000		532000		527000		557000	r	562000
Other	482000		538000		457000		315000	e, 5	360000	e, 5
Total, primary	1040000		1070000		985000		872000	r	922000
Secondary	40100		41200		44400		43200		48900
Total, primary and secondary	1080000		1110000		1030000		916000	r	971000
Uzbekistan, primary	109900	r	117400	r	147250		147700	r	148500
Vietnam, primary	15800		15100		19200		20200	r, e	22000	e
Zambia, primary:
Leaching, electrowon	201300		210000		144400		146000		138700
Other	264800		248200		120100		232400		215200
Total	466100		458200		264500		378400		353900
Zimbabwe, primary	--		62		71		70	e	100	e
Grand total	23900000		24400000		24400000		25000000		25300000
Of which:
Primary:
Leaching, electrowon	3890000		4010000		4100000	r	4180000	r	4030000
Other	15800000	r	16200000	r	16100000		16900000		17000000
Total	19700000	r	20200000	r	20200000	r	21000000	r	21100000
Secondary	4160000	r	4130000	r	4120000	r	3970000		4250000

^eEstimated. ^rRevised. -- Zero.

¹Table includes data available through August 22, 2022. All data are reported unless otherwise noted; totals may include estimated data. Grand totals, U.S. data, and estimated data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown.

²To the extent possible, primary and secondary output of each country and (or) locality are shown separately. The “primary,” “primary, other,” and “secondary” categories consist of electrolytic and fire-refined copper, and the “leaching, electrowon” category consists of refined copper produced by solvent extraction and electrowinning.

³Total refined production is reported, but the distribution between primary (electrowon), primary (other), and (or) secondary output is estimated.

⁴Total refined production and electrowon production are reported, but the distribution between primary (other) and secondary output is estimated.

⁵To avoid disclosing company proprietary data, production is an estimate based on information in public company reports and does not reflect actual output reported to the U.S. Geological Survey.