China’s copper cathode output increased month on month in October, as there was basically no maintenance at smelters and as large-scale smelters maintained high production in Q4. Although domestic copper scrap was in short supply in October, smelters kept relatively ample stocks of blister copper. Furthermore, as the new secondary copper policy took effect from November 1, concerns over copper scrap supply were eased.

The 10th Secondary Lead-acid Battery Industry Summit 2020—held by SMM—took place today, at which SMM senior Pb analyst Xia Wenming gave a speech on the theme of “How China lead market will fare in H2 2020 on the backdrop of oversupply”

Jiangsu Tafel New Energy Technology on May 17 kicked off construction of its phase II and III capacity of a power battery project, which is located at the Jiangning Development Zone, Nanjing.  

Hubei Linuo New Energy Technology has begun trial operations of its phase I capacity of a battery project for commercial new energy vehicles at the Shiyan New Industrial Zone, Hubei province.

China's installed capacity of batteries to power electric vehicles climbed 29.5% from a month ago to 3.6GWh in April, following a surge of 363.2% in the month of March, showed data from the China Automobile Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance, suggesting the country’s EV sector continues to recover from the fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

This is a roundup of China's base metals output in April 2020, from an exclusive survey of key producers by SMM analysts.

Sellers of spot copper cathode cut offers on the morning of Friday May 8 as they were keen to cash in while a further rally in copper futures sidelined downstream consumers. 

Demand for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries in the new energy vehicle market, which enjoy more cost advantage as compared to high-nickel ternary batteries, will likely increase with support from the latest 2020 NEV subsidy policy, under which only passenger cars costing less than 300,000 yuan/unit will receive subsidies. 

Stringent coronavirus containment measures imposed by world authorities in March began to take their toll on supply of imported copper scrap in China, which accounts for about 60% of copper scrap consumption in the country, showed the latest SMM survey.

Demand remained subdued in China’s cobalt market last week while a handful of consumers purchased as required. The market may find some near-term support from the extended national lockdown of South Africa, which will last until end April and aim to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.