The supply and demand in the copper foil market remained stable, and the impact of tariffs has not yet been significantly transmitted to the copper plate/sheet, strip and foil industry [SMM analysis]

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    According to SMM, the operating rate of copper foil enterprises was 71.51% in April 2025, up 0.31 percentage points MoM and up 0.60 percentage points YoY.Among them, the operating rate of large enterprises was 74.89%, that of medium-sized enterprises was 54.91%, and that of small enterprises was 70.33%. Specifically, in different fields, the operating rate of electronic circuit copper foil was 76.48%, down 0.08 percentage points MoM and down 1.05 percentage points YoY. The operating rate of lithium battery copper foil was 68.95%, down 0.42 percentage points MoM and up 1.65 percentage points YoY. It is expected that the overall operating rate of the copper foil industry will slightly decline to 71.42% in May 2025.

The operating rate of copper foil enterprises was 71.51% in April 2025

    In April 2025, the copper foil industry market was relatively stable. However, from the perspective of the operating rate, the operating rates of domestic lithium battery and electronic circuit copper foil both dropped back slightly. For lithium battery copper foil, orders from the downstream power sector were relatively stable,but orders from the ESS sector weakened, partly due to the cancellation of the "mandatory energy storage allocation" policy in China and partly due to the impact of tariff policies on overseas orders of some enterprises.For electronic circuit copper foil, the overall performance of downstream 3C electronics and other consumer sectors was optimistic, and there was also demand for rush exports due to concerns about tariff impacts.

Raw material and finished product inventories in the copper foil industry remained stable in April

    In April, the finished product inventory/output ratio of the copper foil industry rose by 0.15 percentage points MoM to 16.59%, while the raw material inventory/output ratio fell by 0.22 percentage points MoM to 16.93%. After the industry's finished product inventories destocked in March, supply and demand were relatively stable in April, and there were no significant changes in enterprises' production schedules for May. Therefore, the industry's raw material and finished product inventories were at normal levels.

The operating rate of the copper foil industry is forecast to slightly decline to 71.42% in May 2025

    SMM expects that in May 2025, the overall operating rate of copper foil enterprises will be 71.42%, down 0.09 percentage points MoM and down 0.85 percentage points YoY. It is expected that the operating rate of lithium battery copper foil in May will be 68.55%, down 0.40 percentage points MoM and up 1.37 percentage points YoY. The operating rate of electronic circuit copper foil in May is expected to be 77.00%, up 0.52 percentage points MoM and down 4.63 percentage points YoY.

    SMM expects that the overall operating rate of copper foil enterprises will still slightly decline in May. For the copper foil industry, the export volume of the products themselves is relatively small, so it will take some time for the significant impact of tariffs to be transmitted.From the perspective of specific segments, in the lithium battery copper foil sector, orders from the downstream power sector are expected to remain stable. However, orders directly exported to the US from the ESS sector have decreased, which will drag down the demand for copper foil. In the electronic circuit copper foil sector, most raw materials are exported to Taiwan and Southeast Asia, processed into end-user electronic products, and then exported to the US. As the current tariff policy is not entirely clear, there is still a rush to export in the downstream sector, and it is expected that the demand for electronic circuit copper foil will remain high.

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