According to data from the General Administration of Customs, from January to June 2026, China's cumulative copper foil exports reached 39,700 mt, up 72.83% YoY; cumulative imports stood at 45,100 mt, up 12.17% YoY, with import growth significantly slower than export growth.
In H1 2026, China's cumulative copper foil exports reached 39,700 mt, up 72.83% cumulatively YoY, with export value reaching $639.97 million, surging 117.5% YoY. The significantly faster growth in export value compared to volume directly evidenced the continuous rise in unit prices of exported copper foil, the steady increase in product value added, and the ongoing optimization of the export structure.
The core driver of the significant export surge was the confluence of overseas supply gaps and end-use demand. Japanese and Taiwan, China-based enterprises accelerated shifting conventional capacity to high-end copper foils like HVLP, tightening the supply of traditional electronic copper foils outside China and opening a continuous window for export substitution for domestic copper foil enterprises. Meanwhile, in H1, robust global energy storage grid-connection demand, high scheduled production of power batteries, and large-scale construction of AI computing centers combined to continuously boost the rigid demand growth for copper foil outside China. In addition, domestic copper foil enterprises' operating rates stayed high, remaining solidly above 90%, which also provided ample supply support for the export surge.
In terms of export destinations, in H1 China's copper foil was mainly exported to Southeast and East Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, and Vietnam. In these overseas regions, capacity in new energy and electronic manufacturing continued to expand, and supporting raw material demand steadily grew, continuously driving import demand for Chinese copper foil products, making them the core incremental markets for China's copper foil exports.
In H1 2026, China's cumulative copper foil imports stood at 45,130.31 mt, up only 12.27% YoY, a growth rate far lower than that of exports; cumulative import value reached $969.0341 million, up 39.20% YoY. As domestic copper foil enterprises' capacity utilization rates and shipments continued to climb, self-sufficiency in low and mid-end products increased, and import dependence continued to decline. However, June imports rebounded to 8,509.40 mt, up 19.26% MoM, mainly due to the supply gap in the high-end segment. Currently, China's high-end copper foil remains highly dependent on imports, and rigid procurement demand has always existed, indicating that there is still ample room for import substitution and upgrading potential in the localization of high-end products in the domestic copper foil industry.
In H1 2026, the overall copper foil trade deficit showed a narrowing trend. The industry's trade deficit shrank from approximately $103.14 million at the beginning of the year to $45.9 million in May. In June, affected by concentrated procurement of high-end products on the import side and rising unit prices, the monthly deficit rebounded to $68.8 million. However, from the overall H1 perspective, the industry's trade deficit scale still showed significant improvement compared to the same period last year, and the industry's overall competitiveness improved steadily.
In H2, the rapid growth trend of China's copper foil exports is expected to continue. The window period for Japanese-invested and Taiwan, China enterprises to switch traditional capacity to high-end products remains, and the export substitution dividends for domestic enterprises will continue to be released; the global peak season for energy storage, NEVs, and consumer electronics will further support demand. Import side, with domestic capacity ramp-up and product mix upgrade, low and mid-end import substitution will continue to advance, and import dependence will further decrease; however, breakthroughs in the localisation of high-end HVLP products still need time, and the rigid import demand for high-end products will be maintained for a long time, becoming the core direction for subsequent domestic industry technology upgrading and capacity breakthroughs.
