Estimation of the Amount of Copper Lost from the Area Devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake

Abstract

The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, devastated much of the Tohoku region. From the viewpoint of resources, a large number of products and structures were destroyed and lost, and therefore a large amount of metal resources is required for reconstruction in the devastated areas. In recent years, with regard to certain metal resources, including rare metals, such factors as rising demand, the international situation, and the exhaustion of the resources have prompted concerns about the adequacy and stability of supplies. Moreover, with regard to copper, a base metal long thought to be abundant, rising prices attributable to rising demand have prompted concerns. In this study, the amount of copper lost in the devastated areas was estimated by distributing the copper stock in Japan to the areas in accordance with the scale of economic activity and the number of households. As a result, the amount of copper lost was estimated to be 48.4 kt, which accounts for around 4% of Japan’s annual copper consumption. Furthermore, it was estimated that 7.2 kt of copper in five main categories of durable goods （motor vehicle, television, air-conditioner, washing machine and refrigerator） and 1.0 kt of copper in fishing boats were lost, based on an estimation of the numbers of such items lost in the devastated areas and their copper content.