SHANGHAI, Jan 16 (SMM) - In the past year of 2022, major domestic macro and social events have had a negative impact on the copper processing sectors, thus restricting the output of copper semis products. According to SMM statistics, China's copper plate/sheet and strip output dropped 9.9% YoY or 289,600 mt to 2.64 million mt in 2022.
Such a significant decline is conspicuous, and the reasons behind are down to the changes on the macro front and social events.
First of all, the macro-economy entered a downward cycle with persistent sluggish demand. The boost from successive economic stimulus policies to the output of copper semis products was short-lived, failing to reverse its downward trend. At the same time, the monthly copper plate/sheet and strip output lacked special momentum compared with previous years.
Secondly, in the first half of 2022, Shanghai, one of China's major hub of copper cathode trading, was lockdowned in order to contain COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the raw material supply to the copper processing enterprises were terribly inhibited, leading to lower copper plate/sheet and strip output.
Finally, at the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter of 2022, the most-trade SHFE copper contract remained low despite the recovery. Therefore, when there was no significant improvement in downstream demand, some copper plate/sheet and strip companies suffered great losses and even restored to vicious competition for lower prices. In this context, the copper plate/sheet and strip output declined under the pressure.
