The operating rates of copper rod plants using copper scrap were 52.09% between May 8 and May 12, a surge of 9.38 percentage points from a week earlier, according to SMM survey of 15 plants with a capacity of 1.48 million mt/year). During Labour Day holidays, some copper rod plants using copper scrap as raw materials were forced to shut down due to the difficulty of purchasing raw materials. But they did not suspend purchasing raw materials during and after the holidays. Adequate raw materials enabled these plants to resume production last week, growing the average operating rate.

SHANGHAI, May 15 (SMM) - Transactions remained thin in nickel sulphate market as ternary precursor plants still restocked only as needed.

SHANGHAI, May 15 (SMM) - The prices of lithium carbonate extended gains last week.

The decline in operating rates and scrap consumption by EAF mills in April was caused by the plunging construction steel prices.

The average daily steel scrap arrival across 110 steel mills surveyed by SMM stood at 244,000 mt in April, down 2.2% from 249,400 mt in March.

SHANGHAI, May 9 (SMM) - According to SMM survey, the output of refined bismuth in China was 2,621 mt in April, up 0.06% MoM.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently released an economic outlook report for the Asia-Pacific region, predicting that the economic growth rate of the Asia-Pacific region will be 4.6% in 2023, higher than the growth rate of 3.8% in 2022.

The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said last Friday that the global copper supply is expected to be in deficit this year due to improving demand in China.

The steel industry PMI surveyed and released by the Steel Logistics Professional Committee of the China Federation of Things stood at 45% in April 2023, a month-on-month decrease of 3.4 percentage points, falling for two consecutive months. This shows that the operation of the iron and steel industry has slowed down.