Kazakhstan Copper, Steel Output Skyrockets in First Half, Zinc Output down

SMM, October 16: After the SHFE copper contract rollover, futures pulled back slightly. Intraday orders from downstream copper processing enterprises increased, while available supply in the market remained tight and suppliers showed strong sentiment to hold back from selling, jointly driving spot premiums sharply higher. In Shanghai, standard-quality copper against the SHFE 2611 contract was mostly quoted at premiums of 800–850 yuan/mt, with the current backwardation between the front and next month contracts running at 660–690 yuan/mt. The delivery volume for the SHFE 2610 copper contract was 4,895 lots. Attention should be paid to the pace at which delivered warrants flow into the spot market. If delivered cargoes are released in a concentrated manner, the tightness in available supply may ease, and spot premiums will face pullback pressure.

[SMM Analysis: Stricter Reverse Invoicing Inspections Push Tax-Inclusive Procurement; Tax-Exclusive Cargo Sees Few Transactions] This week, the sharp rise and fall in copper prices caused repeated shifts in market sentiment, with the price difference between copper cathode and copper scrap narrowing from 3,979 yuan/mt to 2,794 yuan/mt. Coinciding with the futures contract rollover and delivery this week, the price spread between copper futures contracts widened, and many secondary copper rod enterprises significantly reduced their spot procurement demand...

Yingkou Jianfa Shenghai’s multi-metal recovery project began feeding material on October 13, after about a month of furnace drying and commissioning. The start of feed marks the first phase’s transition into substantive production. Phase I is designed to produce 300,000 tonnes of cathode copper per year; the two-phase project has total planned capacity of 600,000 tonnes per year. The plant uses a three-furnace smelting process and stainless-steel cathode electrolysis, with copper concentrate as its main feedstock. A separate downstream project, with planned investment of RMB 5.1 billion, will produce refined phosphoric acid and iron phosphate precursors using sulphuric acid and steam from copper smelting. The completed complex as one of the world’s largest single-site copper smelters, The project covers more than 1.5 million square metres, equivalent to around 210 standard football pitches. It is a major project for Liaoning Province and the largest single industrial investment in the Yingkou area.. No actual output figures or ramp-up schedule have been disclosed.kandian.sina.cn