13 October 2010
More than half of all the copper imported into the United States comes from Chile, the country whose dramatic rescue of its miners has had the world transfixed for days.
The United States has imported $1.38 billion in copper from the mineral-rich South American nation through the first seven months of 2010, according to WorldCity analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. The world total is $2.7 billion.
After Chile, the second-biggest importer of copper into the United States is Canada, with $822.24 million through the first seven months of 2010, the lastest figures available.
Combined, Chile and Canada account for more than 80 percent of all imports of copper into the United States. Peru accounts for another 14 percent of the total.
Copper is Chile's No. 1 import into the United States, accounting for slightly more than 30 percent of all imports by dollar value. The second largest import, by value, is grapes. Grapes account for about 16 percent of all imports into the United States.
Because copper is a commodity traded on futures markets, it can be subject to significant price swings, and has been in recent years.
Consequently, the value of copper imports can be volatile. The value of copper imports into the United States in 2010, when compared to the same seven-month period of 2009, is up almost 88 percent. 2009 was not a good year for copper or many other commodites, after several years of high prices, in part led by increased demand from China, India and other developing markets.
Even with the increase in value in 2010 total to $1.38 billion, that remains below the totals from the same periods of 2006, 2007 and 2008, when copper prices were higher. The greatest total from January through July in recent yeas was in 2006, when it almost reached $1.9 billion.