Copper Output in China Drops for Second Month as Summer Lull Cuts Demand

Sep 13 ( Bloomberg)--

Copper output in China, the largest producer, declined in August for a second consecutive month as some smelters suspended production for maintenance during the summer lull in demand.

Output of the refined metal fell 0.3 percent to 397,000 metric tons from 398,000 tons in July, the statistics bureau said. Production in August gained 8.8 percent from a year earlier, it said in a statement. China is also the world’s largest consumer of the metal used in pipes, tubes and wires.

Local demand usually dips in July and August, leading some smelters to arrange the maintenance and repair work in summer.

China’s industrial output gained 13.9 percent from a year earlier, said the National Bureau of Statistics on Sept. 11, more than the 13 percent median estimate of 29 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

"The drop in output is in line with our own survey findings,” Zhu Lin, an analyst at data provider Shanghai Metals Market, said by phone today. "We expect the smelters, which are conducting repair and maintenance work, to resume production in September.”

The country’s copper concentrate production increased 6.7 percent from July to 111,000 tons, statistics bureau data showed.

Smelters buy copper concentrate from miners, or use scrap copper, to produce refined material.

Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange settled at $7,486 a ton Friday, and traded 1.5 percent higher at $7,599 a ton at 11:12 a.m. in Shanghai.