Bloomberg reported that higher demand from China, the biggest copper user may help to absorb surplus metal this year as the market shifts to oversupply.

Mr Juan Carlos Guajardo executive director of the Center for Copper & Mining Studies said that copper supply will outpace demand by between 100,000 tonnes and 200,000 tonnes in 2013. The copper market is bracing for a first surplus in four years on increased output from new and existing mines, the International Copper Study Group estimates.

Mr Guajardo said that “In previous years we faced an important deficit. The question is whether the surplus is enough to put pressure on prices or the higher demand in China is able to absorb this transition to surplus.”

He said that global refined copper production will rise about 3 percent in 2013 as usage increases slightly less. Demand from China will expand 5% to 6% this year and the country’s copper consumption will start to increase in the near future.