Spot copper cathode market in North China sluggish

Chile's Second Environmental Court recently revoked the environmental permit for the "Infrastructure and Capacity Enhancement" project at Collahuasi, one of the world's largest copper mines. The project planned to invest over $3.2 billion, with the core objective of building a seawater desalination plant to extend the mine's lifespan. The court ruled that the mining company had failed to adequately consult with affected indigenous communities and that the assessment of environmental impacts on the marine environment was insufficient. The mining company stated that existing water sources could support short-term production and would not immediately affect production.

[SMM Copper Anode Market] May 22-28, the SMM weekly operating rate of China's scrap-derived copper anode enterprises fell 4.42 percentage points WoW to 53.14%, and is expected to rebound 1.24 percentage points WoW to 54.38% next week.

High copper prices suppressed downstream procurement. Coupled with the industry entering the off-season and persistently weak home appliance demand, the enamelled wire market saw mediocre trading activity, with operating rates continuing to run at low levels this week.