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16 www.resourceworld.com D E C E M B E R / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 5 w w w . Te r r a L o g i c E x p l o r a t i o n . c o m 7 7 8 . 5 2 0 . 2 0 0 0 Geochemical surveys | Geological mapping & prospecting Drill programs | Camp Construction & Management Data Management | Custom GIS solutions Cartography D R I V E N B Y D I S C O V E R Y world's largest consumer, has slowed. The EU also reduced its growth estimates for Germany which is the world's third-biggest copper consumer. According to the Thomson Reuters 2014 GFMS Copper Survey, lower growth in offtake in the electrical sector partly explained the drop. Elsewhere, other key emerging markets actually saw demand fall year-on-year with declines registered in both Russia and Brazil. Due to considerable surplus supply as a result of near term production growth, the copper price is expected to be driven down. Subsequently, the copper forecast is anticipated to average US $6,810/tonne in 2014, a 7.3% decline year-on-year. The GFMS team at Thomson Reuters expects copper price to decline to an annual aver- age of US $6,200/tonne for 2015. Zinc Zinc appears to have a bright future this year. Supply deficits are anticipated for both 2014 and 2015. "This should translate in the medium term into higher zinc prices," com- mented Daniel Briesemann, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. "The situa- tion on the global zinc market is very tight." Demand is expected to exceed produc- tion by 403,000 tons in 2014 driven mainly by increasing usage in China for steel-sheet production. The supply deficit is forecast to be 366,000 tons in 2015. Bloomberg analysts expect supply growth to slow to just 0.9% CAGR through to 2020. This is a result large mine closures in 2016 which should be countered by new supply coming on stream by 2020. The average zinc price forecast from a composite of analysts that Bloomberg has tracked currently stands at US $2,260/tonne for 2015. lead Lower LME inventories in lead signal ris- ing prices. Lead prices have averaged US $2,194/tonne in the third quarter of 2014, 3.7% higher than the comparable period last year. The London Metal Exchange lead inventories decline to the lowest quarterly average level of 705,490 tonnes since the fourth quarter of 2010. Bloomberg analysts forecast an average price of US $2,300/ tonne in 2015. nickel Goldman Sachs states that the refined nickel market has shifted from a major surplus in 2013 to a much smaller surplus in 2014, and believes that nickel prices are likely to continue to rally into 2015. The Investment Bank is forecasting that nickel prices will rise to US $22,000/tonne in 2015. According to Carey Smith, Research Analyst, Alto Capital, LME nickel prices are most likely to average around US $20,000/ tonne in 2015. The high prices are on account of the Indonesian ban on nickel ore exports and the anticipated supply short- age during early-2015. Smith expects nickel prices to trade between US $17,000/tonne and $23,000/tonne during 2015. China relies heavily on Indonesian ore