COMMENTARY — Copper important to Arizona

The Arizona copper industry contributed US$5.7 billion to the state’s economy during 1993, according to a study by the Western Economic Analysis Center in Marana, Ariz.

This contribution is calculated as money spent by the copper industry recirculates through Arizona households, businesses and government agencies. The study placed 1993 direct contributions to the economy of the state at US$1.5 billion, a 14% decrease of US$240 million from the previous year. However, there were increases in total earnings of employees and in state and local tax payments.

The following are key data from the economic study:

* Taxes paid to state and local governments totaled US$123 million — an increase of 5% from 1992.

* Arizona’s copper workers (11,800 in 1993 versus 12,100 in 1992) earned US$21 million more than in 1992, for a payroll totaling almost US$472 million. Those workers are the highest-paid in the state, with pay averaging US$768 per week.

* Federal tax revenues from Arizona copper totaled US$97 million — a return of almost US$520 per acre in 1993 on the 186,700 acres used to produce copper and other metals.

* Copper industry purchases from Arizona businesses totaled almost US$864 million, down from the 1992 record of US$1.1 billion. This decrease was anticipated, with several plant expansions and major equipment purchases now being complete.

While prices for copper mining byproducts — gold, molybdenum and silver — were fairly stable, the 1993 average copper price of US85 cents per lb. on the Commodity Exchange of New York was down 17% from US$1.03 in 1992. Production, however, increased to 1.28 million tons, exceeding the 1992 peak production of 1.27 million tons.

As in most years, Arizona production accounted for almost two-thirds of U.S. production of newly mined copper. Productivity of the workforce increased by more than 3%, notwithstanding production lost because of heavy rains in early 1993.

The total value of production for the year was US$2.4 billion, below the US$2.7 billion of 1992, owing to the decrease in the copper price. — From an article by David Ridinger, president of the Arizona Mining Association, which appeared in a recent issue of the American Mining Congress’s “Washington Concentrates.”