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expanded metal series Copper prices will this year average 15percent higher than in 2007 on mine disruptions and delays to newprojects, according to London-based researcher CRU. The benchmark three-month contract will average $8,200 a metricton, up from $7,103 a ton last year, analyst Nikhil Shah said today at a Metal Bulletin conference in Sofia, Bulgaria. ``We're bullish on copper prices'' mainly on the ``supply side,''Shah said. A lack of mine output will force smelters, especially inChina, to curtail production this year, he said. Mine production lagged behind demand in the past two years as Chinaexpanded smelting and refining capacity to become the largestrefined copper producer in 2006, overtaking Chile. The shortfallwill persist through 2012, according to CRU estimates. Shah predicts a deficit of 500,000 tons this year. Low-quality ore, poor weather conditions and labor disputes reducedcopper-mine output by about 250,000 tons from the first quarter of2007 through the first three months of this year, according to CRU.The losses were partly ameliorated by a total gain of 91,000 tonsof production at mines including Collahuasi in Chile and CerroVerde in Peru, Shah said. China, Brazil, India and Russia, making up 35 percent of worldusage, will drive global demand for refined metal that's expectedto increase 3.7 percent this year, he said.

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