SHANGHAI, Jan 8 (SMM) – China produced 761,600 mt of copper cathode in December, up 2.08% from November and up 2.37% from a year earlier. This grew output in 2018 to 8.73 million mt, some 9.1% higher on the year.

High spot concentrate treatment charges (TCs), robust spot premiums and sulphuric acid prices, as well as annual production targets, kept smelters operating in high gear last month. Maintenance had little impact on production. Utilisation rates across newly-commissioned and resumed capacities in 2018 mostly stood above 80%, with some capacities under full operation. This excluded Chalco's Ningde smelter and Wuzhou Jinsheng Copper, whose capacity utilisation rates remained around 30%. 

Large smelters will slow production at the start of 2019, according to an SMM survey. SMM forecasts that China’s output of copper cathode in January will dip 3.8% on the month, but rise 4.52% on the year, to stand at 732,600 mt.