In July 2026, the operating rate of China's copper foil enterprises was 93.08%, up 1.6 percentage points MoM and up 15.8 percentage points YoY. Among them, the operating rate for large enterprises was 95.75%, for medium-sized enterprises 80.39%, and for small enterprises 80.36%. By category, the operating rate for electronic circuit copper foil was 94.09%, up 1.94 percentage points MoM and up 16.71 percentage points YoY; that for lithium battery copper foil was 92.55%, up 1.39 percentage points MoM and up 15.33 percentage points YoY.
Robust end-use demand for copper foil persists
In July, the copper foil industry operating rate continued to climb, supported by strong downstream end-use demand.In the lithium battery sector, the production schedules of major domestic lithium battery enterprises hit a new high in July, with the installation rush for power battery cells driving up the scale of production, and demand for lithium battery copper foil remained positive. In the electronic circuit sector, demand related to the AI industry chain remained hot, industry capacity continued to tilt toward high-end products, and demand for full-specification electronic circuit copper foil stayed robust.
Copper foil shipments continued to rise in July
With both production and sales improving, in July the industry's raw material inventory fell 0.23 days MoM, and finished product inventories fell 0.3 days MoM.In July, overall copper foil shipments increased 2.57% MoM, with lithium battery copper foil shipments up 0.74% MoM and electronic circuit copper foil shipments up 6.25% MoM.
The copper foil industry operating rate in August 2026 is forecast to rise to 93.29%
SMM expects that in August 2026, the overall operating rate of copper foil enterprises will be 93.29%, up 0.21 percentage points MoM and up 14.85 percentage points YoY, and overall shipments are expected to increase 0.58% MoM. The operating rate for lithium battery copper foil is expected to be 92.64%, and for electronic circuit copper foil, 94.54%.Looking ahead to August demand, affected by expectations of battery consumption tax hikes in early September, power battery enterprises are advancing their production schedules; coupled with the continued robust performance of the energy storage sector and sustained hot AI computing demand, multiple factors will together support the copper foil industry operating rate to stay high in August.
