SHANGHAI, Nov. 21 (SMM) – China’s copper production is entering into a high-cost era due to more stringent environmental protection and higher labor costs, DZHNews reported, citing a Jiangxi Copper Co.’s executive.

Production costs at Chinese copper smelters are expected to rise by 2-3% each year onwards, Wang Chiwei, a former top official at Jiangxi Copper made the comment at a conference in Shanghai today.