Home / Metal News / China copper production rose 3.1% Oct, more than expected

China copper production rose 3.1% Oct, more than expected

iconNov 11, 2019 17:25
Source:SMM
China produced 783,000 mt of copper cathode in Oct, up 3.12% from a month ago and 8.66% from a year ago

SHANGHAI, Nov 11 (SMM) – China’s production of copper cathode rose more than expected in October, showed an SMM survey, as major smelters yielded more than originally planned and also new or restarted capacity ramped up.

China produced a total of 783,000 mt of copper cathode last month, up 3.12% from a month ago and 8.66% from a year ago. SMM had expected production to increase to 778,300 mt.

For the first 10 months of 2019, production of copper cathode across China amounted to 7.34 million mt, up 1.57% from the same period last year.

Jiangxi Copper, Tongling Nonferrous, Yunnan Copper and Jinchuan Group reported copper production that topped their original plans for October, driven by the rush to meet annual production targets.

Copper production in October was also bolstered by the ramp-up of newly-commissioned or reopened capacity.

Yunnan Copper’s 200,000 mt/year capacity in Chifeng turned out its first batch of copper cathode on October 10, about a week after being commissioned. Zijin Mining’s newly-commissioned 150,000 mt/year capacity in Heilongjiang is ramping up, while Baiyin Nonferrous has recovered its 200,000 mt/year project to normal operations.

Higher copper production came despite continued weakness in treatment charges for copper concentrate and prices of sulphuric acid, which have pushed Chinese smelters to the verge of losses but yet to cause capacity curtailments.

Notably, some smelters who use copper scrap as feedstock are struggling to reach their planned production for this month, due to scrap shortages with tightness in domestic supply and a decline of over 80% in import quotas for the fourth quarter.

This, however, is unlikely to stem the uptrend in overall copper production, as new capacity is still ramping up.

SMM expects China’s production of copper cathode to grow to 786,600 mt in November, up 5.43% from a year ago.

Production in January-November will reach 8.13 million mt, with a year-over-year increase of 1.94%.

Production data
Copper

For queries, please contact Michael Jiang at michaeljiang@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please email service.en@smm.cn

Related news

SMM Events & Webinars

All