SHANGHAI, Mar 6 (SMM) – China’s output of copper cathode continued to fall in February, as some smelters trimmed output or expedited maintenance on swelling inventories of the byproduct—sulphuric acid.
SMM data showed that China produced 683,100 mt of copper cathode last month, down 5.9% from January and 5.07% from February 2019.
Government measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic significantly affected logistics in China in February, disrupting deliveries of copper cathode and sulphuric acid from smelters and growing sulphuric acid inventory pressure that had already been high.
When it came to late February, authorities gradually removed curbs on trans-regional transportation, which helped slow sulphuric acid inventory growth and eased pressure on copper smelters. Some smelters are recovering their production, while sulphuric acid woes linger at some smelters and some will conduct maintenance this month.
Concerns about high inventories of copper cathode will also keep smelters from ramping up production sharply this month, as copper consumption is still recovering after downstream processor operating rates stayed at low levels last month.
Production of copper cathode in China is estimated to rebound in March, increasing 4.74% from February to 715,500 mt to produce a year-over-year decline of 2.54%. This will bring production in the first three months of 2020 to 2.12 million mt, down 3.73% year on year.
