SMM June 12 News:
Since Q4 2025, end-use demand in the copper foil industry has fully erupted, the industry has shown high prosperity, and processing fees for various specifications of copper foil have been steadily rising.
According to SMM data, the copper foil industry's operating rate has now reached the 90% level. In May 2026, the operating rate of Chinese copper foil enterprises was 90.31%, up 0.56 percentage points MoM and up 18.80 percentage points YoY; the overall operating rate of the copper foil industry in June 2026 is expected to rise to 91.55%, up 1.24 percentage points MoM and up 19.39 percentage points YoY.
On June 12, 2026, SMM's weekly premium for lithium battery copper foil (4.5μm) is quoted at 25,000-29,000 yuan/mt with an average price of 27,000 yuan/mt; for 5μm, the quote is 23,000-27,000 yuan/mt with an average of 25,000 yuan/mt; for 6μm, the quote is 19,000-23,000 yuan/mt with an average of 21,000 yuan/mt.
Most copper foil enterprises, represented by leading players, are currently seeing saturated orders and production schedules. In May, SMM's lithium battery copper foil operating rate was 90.68%, up 0.25 percentage points MoM and up 21.73 percentage points YoY; lithium battery copper foil shipments increased by 3.78% MoM. In recent years, the significant rise in the center of copper prices and the development of the new energy industry have greatly accelerated the process of ultra-thinization in the industry, with copper foil enterprises actively transforming toward high-value-added products.
According to SMM analysis, against a backdrop of optimistic end-use demand and the still-needed time for new upstream copper foil capacity to be released, China's lithium battery copper foil supply-demand balance will show a slight deficit in 2026.
On June 12, SMM's weekly premium for HTE copper foil (18μm) is quoted at 19,000-23,000 yuan/mt with an average of 21,000 yuan/mt; for 35μm, the quote is 17,000-21,000 yuan/mt with an average of 19,000 yuan/mt.
In May, SMM's electronic circuit copper foil operating rate was 89.57%, up 1.14 percentage points MoM and up 13.09 percentage points YoY; electronic circuit copper foil shipments increased by 1.61% MoM. Since Q4 2025, premiums for electronic circuit copper foil have experienced multiple increases, with the core driver being the explosion of sectors such as AI data centers, which boosted demand for high-end electronic circuit copper foils like the RTF and HVLP series, thereby driving the industry's conversion of ordinary electronic copper foil capacity to high-end products and creating a supply deficit for traditional electronic circuit copper foil.
Looking ahead to full-year 2026, in the downstream energy storage sector, driven by local subsidies in China and global renewable energy targets, there is significant room for growth; in the power battery sector, the penetration rate of NEVs will continue to rise steadily; downstream applications such as AI computing centers and 5G/6G communication equipment will continue to scale up, and expectations for end-use demand in the industry remain optimistic.
