SHANGHAI, May 29 (SMM) – China's copper semis output fell by 2.13% on the month in April to 1.44 million tonnes, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Operating rate at copper fabricators remained high at 74.85% in April, as tumbling copper prices in March boosted orders in early April.

In the latter half of the month, however, high copper premiums which were averaging 803 yuan per tonne caused copper consumption to fall, and squeezed the already thin profits for copper fabricators. As a consequence, copper semis output was down slightly.