Copper Prices Shot Up, Demand Fell to Freezing Point, and Order-Taking and Operating Rates Both Significantly Weakened [SMM Enamelled Wire Market Weekly Review]

Due to tight supply of tax-included copper scrap, secondary anode plate supply was restricted. SMM’s weekly operating rate of China's secondary anode plate producers fell by 4.02 percentage points WoW to 50.03% during the July 31-August 6 period. However, as the price difference between primary metal and scrap widened during the week, it is expected to rebound by 1.86 percentage points WoW next week to 51.89%.

[SMM Copper Anode Flash] Due to the contraction in China's secondary copper anode supply, SMM smelter copper anode days of inventories in July 2026 were 6.29 days, down 0.41 days MoM, falling to a low for the year.

According to foreign media reports, the DRC government signed an order on June 29 banning the export of copper and cobalt concentrates, with the ban taking effect immediately; projects that meet "strategic" conditions may be granted an export exemption of up to one year upon approval by the Minister of Mines. The DRC had already imposed strict approval procedures on copper and cobalt concentrate exports, with enterprises required to obtain export quotas or exemptions before shipping, so this policy is more a reiteration and tightening of existing controls rather than a sudden, complete halt of exports. According to SMM, the copper concentrates previously exported by the DRC mainly came from the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine, jointly owned by Zijin Mining and Ivanhoe. In 2025, the mine produced copper concentrates containing 388,800 mt of copper, and a supporting 500,000 mt/year blister copper smelter was commissioned at year-end, producing copper anode with a purity of 99.7% that still needs to be shipped overseas for further refining. In Q2 2026, the smelter produced 62,100 mt of copper anode, and as capacity ramps up, the project’s export product is shifting from copper concentrates to copper anode. Given that DRC copper concentrate exports were already subject to approval restrictions and Kamoa-Kakula possesses local smelting capacity, this ban may have limited additional impact on short-term global copper concentrate trade. However, the policy sends a relatively clear signal: as the strategic status of critical minerals rises, resource-rich countries are increasingly focusing on keeping more resource added value and industry chain segments at home through export restrictions, local processing requirements, and tax policies, and the impact of resource protectionism on the global copper raw material supply landscape is continuously rising.