Operating rates of copper foil enterprises continue to rise, with demand from the lithium battery sector becoming the growth engine [SMM analysis]

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    According to SMM, the operating rate of copper foil enterprises in June 2025 was 74.78%, up 2.62 percentage points MoM and 2.75 percentage points YoY. Among them, the operating rate of large enterprises was 79.57%, that of medium-sized enterprises was 49.79%, and that of small enterprises was 65.09%. Specifically, in different fields, the operating rate of electronic circuit copper foil was 77.52%, up 1.91 percentage points MoM and down 3.43 percentage points YoY. The operating rate of lithium battery copper foil was 73.37%, up 2.98 percentage points MoM and 6.20 percentage points YoY. It is expected that the overall operating rate of the copper foil industry will continue to rise slightly to 75.18% in July 2025.

The operating rate of copper foil enterprises in June 2025 was 74.78%

    Driven by the overall steady growth trend of terminal orders, the operating rate of China's copper foil enterprises in June 2025 reached a new high within the year again. In terms of lithium battery copper foil, orders from the power and ESS sectors were relatively stable. In terms of electronic circuit copper foil, orders for high-end products were hot, but as consumption shifted from the peak season to the off-season, demand for low-end products showed a downward trend. In addition, the "Regulation on Ensuring Payment of Accounts to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" was officially implemented on June 1, 2025, shortening the payment period for suppliers by downstream enterprises to within 60 days, which improved the cash flow of enterprises. Coupled with the relatively stable operation of copper foil processing fees throughout 2025, some large copper foil enterprises continued to release capacity.

Raw material and finished product inventories of the copper foil industry declined in June

    The finished product inventory/output ratio of the copper foil industry in June declined by 0.94 percentage points MoM to 16.34%, and the raw material inventory/output ratio declined by 0.17 percentage points MoM to 16.82%. With stable downstream orders for copper foil, copper prices surged in late June, which to a certain extent drove downstream stockpiling demand, leading to a decline in finished product inventories of the copper foil industry.

The operating rate of the copper foil industry in July 2025 is forecasted to rise to 75.18%

    SMM expects that in July 2025, the overall operating rate of copper foil enterprises will be 75.18%, up 0.40 percentage points MoM and 8.90 percentage points YoY. It is expected that the operating rate of lithium battery copper foil in July will be 74.76%, up 1.39 percentage points MoM and 12.15 percentage points YoY. It is expected that the operating rate of electronic circuit copper foil in July will be 75.99%, down 1.53 percentage points MoM and up 2.97 percentage points YoY.

    SMM expects that the overall operating rate of copper foil enterprises will continue to rise in July, mainly due to the planned further increase in capacity utilization rates of large enterprises supported by the shortened payment period and demand from the lithium battery sector. However, in terms of specific segments, the expected trends for lithium battery copper foil and electronic circuit copper foil have diverged. For lithium battery copper foil, the overall downstream demand has not shown a weakening trend, and the current demand expectations remain stable. For electronic circuit copper foil, as the industry enters the traditional consumption off-season, the downstream demand, especially for low-end products, is expected to decrease.

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