SHANGHAI, May 15 (SMM) – The ongoing first all-around maintenance at Qinghai Copper under China`s Western Mining, which started on April 19, is expected to affect copper output of the plant by 7,000 mt, an SMM survey found on Tuesday May 14. 

SMM expects maintenance across smelters in May to have the greatest impact on the monthly production of copper this year. 

Maintenance will lower China's output of copper cathode by nearly 70,000 mt on the month to 638,000 mt in May, standing 14.63% lower on the year. This will lower January-May production by 1.45% from a year ago, to 3.55 million mt.