copper bulletin

The Copper Bulletin is the monthly statistical periodical of the International Copper Study Group, the intergovernmental body whose program spans mine production, refined production, consumption, trade, stocks and prices at country level across roughly 50+ economies.

It is one product inside ICSG Copper Statistical Database, listed alongside the Statistical Yearbook, the bi-annual Directory of Copper Mines, Smelters and Refineries (~1,000 facility records), trade-flow matrices and the Online Statistical Database. Coverage for the Bulletin itself is the current year, refreshed monthly; the Yearbook covers the prior 10 years.

Access is commercial by design: proprietary ICSG copyright, no open license, delivery as PDF plus a TM1 Web application, ordered via an Excel order form.

Timeliness is its whole pitch. Free copper sources in this slice skew to static or low-quality series — IndexMundi's monthly prices score 6/10 — while the Bulletin carries current-year country data on a monthly cadence from the intergovernmental source of record.

Budgeting must include the add-on math. The base subscription bundles the Yearbook, but historical depth requires the Online Statistical Database add-on (EUR 200-250 members / EUR 400-500 non-members), so total cost depends on how far back your analysis reaches.

And redistribution is closed. With no open license and site-wide copyright notices, a vendor reselling 'ICSG data' should be asked which license they hold rather than assumed compliant.

1. Check whether current-year country detail is the requirement. The Bulletin's coverage is explicitly the current year at country level; multi-decade work needs the Yearbook (prior 10 years) or the online database (from 1995).
2. Price member vs non-member status honestly. The published list is EUR 600 / EUR 1,200 for the subscription and EUR 200-250 / EUR 400-500 for database access — status changes the bill by half.
3. Confirm the delivery format fits pipelines. PDF plus TM1 Web means extraction is manual unless you license the database add-on; CSV-style feeds are not part of the offer.
4. Compare against free national sources. Sernageomin's Chilean mining statistics and Natural Resources Canada's Copper Facts are free but narrower in scope and cadence than ICSG's global program.
5. Ask resellers for their license basis. Proprietary copyright means legitimate resale needs an agreement; unverifiable licensing is a procurement red flag regardless of price.

Where to see it in context: copper data.

• icsg-online-statistical-database — The paid web add-on giving interactive access to historical copper series from 1995 onward, priced separately from the Bulletin.