Present Trends and Outlook for Metals Markets and Trade in the Asia-Pacific Region

Abstract

This chapter examines two sets of forces: the processes of economic growth and industrialization and movements in the relative costs of energy in association with government metals-processing policies. The diversity of economic structures, stages of economic development, and resource endowments among the Asia-Pacific region's economies has fostered the development of mutually beneficial trading links. The flow of primary products from the Asia-Pacific resource-rich countries to the resource-deficient industrializing economies underpins the dynamic growth experienced in the region since the 1950s. The recurring supply surpluses have arisen principally from producers' misjudgment of the declines in demand for metals during the 1970s and early 1980s, which they viewed as a relatively short-term and cyclical occurrence. The general weakness in international metals markets arises principally from demand-side influences, in particular the slower growth of metals consumption. Rapid growth in metals demand during the 1950s and 1960s spurred the establishment of significant resource industries, particularly in the resource rich economies of the Asia-Pacific region.