September 2, 2026 news:
As of August 31, 2026, all companies' 2026 semi-annual reports have been fully disclosed. Our SMM statistics found that a total of 19 publicly listed firms have copper smelters. These 19 publicly listed firms are: Tongling Nonferrous Metals (000630), Jiangxi Copper Corporation (600362), Jinchuan International (02362.hk), Daye Nonferrous (00661.hk), Yunnan Copper (000878), Zijin Mining (601899), Yuguang Gold and Lead Group (600531), Western Mining Co., Ltd. (601168), Tin Industry Co., Ltd. (000960), Shandong Humon Smelting (002237), Zhongjin Gold (600489), Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co., Ltd. (601212), Jintian Copper (601609), Zinc Industry Co., Ltd. (000751), North Copper (000737), Zhefu Holding Group (002266), Feinan Resources (301500), Gao Neng Environment (603588), and Zhongjin Lingnan (000060).
The operating revenue, net profit, and non-recurring net profit of each smelter are as follows:
In H1 2026, copper prices fluctuated at highs with their center up sharply YoY (SHFE copper average price up about 25% YoY, briefly shooting up above 105,000 yuan/mt in January), while by-product prices such as gold, silver, and sulphuric acid fluctuated at highs but remained at historically elevated levels, driving both revenue and profit of smelters to surge. According to statistics,the 18 publicly listed copper smelters that disclosed financial data (excluding Jinchuan International, which is primarily mine-focused) achieved combined operating revenue of 1.218643 trillion yuan in H1 2026, up 28.56% YoY; combined net profit reached 70.533 billion yuan, up sharply by 78.30% YoY.
Individually, all 18 companies saw operating revenue grow YoY; in terms of net profit, 17 companies grew YoY, and Daye Nonferrous (00661.HK) turned from loss to profit (from a loss of 10 million yuan in the same period last year to a profit of 442 million yuan),with none reporting losses and none seeing declines. In terms of net profit excluding non-recurring gains and losses (hereinafter referred to as non-recurring net profit), the 17 companies that disclosed this itemwere all positive(Daye Nonferrous did not disclose it separately), with earnings quality continuing to improve—Baiyin Nonferrous Group, whose non-recurring net profit was still negative in the same period last year, turned positive to 58 million yuan in H1 this year, up 615.6% YoY.
In terms of net profit scale, Zijin Mining continued to rank as the "most profitable copper enterprise" with39.17 billion yuan, followed by Jiangxi Copper Corporation (8.632 billion yuan, +106.8%), with Zhongjin Gold (4.357 billion yuan), Western Mining Co., Ltd. (4.169 billion yuan, +123.0%), and Tongling Nonferrous Metals (2.993 billion yuan, +107.9%) ranking third through fifth. In terms of growth, Feinan Resources (+307.3%), North Copper (+186.6%), Zhefu Holding (+139.5%), and Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co., Ltd. (+136.9%) led the pack. The ratio of non-GAAP net profit to net profit was generally above 0.85, indicating good earnings quality; Jintian Copper (0.50) and Shandong Humon Smelting (0.56) posted lower ratios due to a higher share of non-recurring gains and losses.
Gross margins for major products of each smelter are as follows:
By product, the industry's profit structure in H1 2026 continued the pattern of "weak smelting and processing, strong by-products." Sample statistics show that the average profit margin for copper cathode (electrolytic copper) pulled back slightly from 2.01% in H1 2025 to 1.81%, mainly because copper concentrate TCs kept plunging to historical extremes—at end-June, spot TC briefly fell to about -$125/mt, with smelting-side TC revenue approaching zero or even turning negative; the average profit margin for sulphuric acid surged from 47.94% to 80.48%, with the national average market price of 98% sulphuric acid rising from about 1,056 yuan/mt in late December 2025 to about 2,075 yuan/mt in late June 2026, nearly doubling. High sulphuric acid prices became the core support for smelters to maintain operations amid negative TCs. In addition, affected by gold and silver prices retreating from highs and rising precious metal valuation costs in concentrates, the smelting-side average profit margin for gold business fell from 8.24% to 5.67%.
At the company level: Jiangxi Copper Corporation's copper cathode gross margin rose from 3.44% to 5.46%, while the gross margin of its copper concentrates, rare and scattered metals, and other nonferrous metals segment jumped from 3.44% to 11.45%; North Copper's copper cathode gross margin went from 8.22% to 12.05%; benefiting from the surge in sulphuric acid prices, the sulphuric acid segment gross margins of Yunnan Copper, Yuguang Gold and Lead Group, and Shandong Humon Smelting rose to 84.85%, 83.75%, and 81.57%, respectively, up 18.2, 31.8, and 34.5 percentage points YoY. By contrast, pure smelters with low self-sufficiency in ore (e.g., Zinc Industry Co., Ltd. with a copper cathode gross margin of -3.38% and Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co., Ltd. with copper cathode at -1.90%) saw their profit margins clearly squeezed.
Refined copper production in 2025 and 2026 production plans of each smelter
In terms of production, according to disclosures in companies' semi-annual reports and SMM's understanding, in H1 2026, the 15 companies that disclosed copper cathode production produced a combined 4.1666 million mt, up 111,700 mt or 2.75% YoY (4.0549 million mt in the same period last year). Over the same period, NBS data showed national copper cathode production of 7.608 million mt, up 5.2% YoY. The sample's growth rate was below the national level, mainly because the sample did not include Tongling Nonferrous (which did not disclose absolute figures; its copper cathode production was up 16.96% YoY) and other non-disclosing companies, and was also dragged down by a decline in Zijin Mining's smelted copper output. Actual industry production continued to grow, and the concentration of the copper smelting industry remained high.
By company, H1 copper cathode production growth mainly came from Jiangxi Copper Corporation (1.1953 million mt to 1.2604 million mt, +65,100 mt), Yunnan Copper (779,400 mt to 836,500 mt, +57,100 mt, benefiting from the full resumption of Southwest Copper's relocated operations and capacity ramp-up at Chuxiong Dianzhong), North Copper (137,000 mt to 159,800 mt, +22,800 mt), and Zhongjin Lingnan (+12,000 mt). Production declines were mainly at Zijin Mining (smelted copper production 380,600 mt to 344,800 mt, -9.4%), Western Mining (-10.0%), and Zinc Industry Co., Ltd. (-14.2%), mostly due to tight raw material supply, maintenance, or structural adjustments.
For copper concentrates (mine-produced copper in concentrates basis), the eight companies disclosing this metric produced a combined 899,800 mt in H1 2026, up 2.69% YoY (876,200 mt in the same period last year). Growth mainly came from Jiangxi Copper Corporation (99,300 mt to 136,400 mt, +37.4%, boosted by higher attributable production from First Quantum), Baiyin Nonferrous (37,300 mt to 53,200 mt, +42.5%, accretive from the Brazilian acquisition consolidation), and Yunnan Copper (+20.7%). Zijin Mining's mined copper production was 534,400 mt, down 5.7% YoY, mainly disrupted by production cuts at Kamoa-Kakula; excluding this factor, output still maintained growth.
On production plans, the 15 companies that have disclosed full-year 2026 production guidance plan to produce a combined 8.3174 million mt of copper cathode, with 4.1666 million mt completed in H1, a completion rate of 50.1%, broadly in line with expectations. Jiangxi Copper Corporation (2.39 million mt) and Yunnan Copper (1.7705 million mt) remain the two largest in terms of full-year planned output.
H2 outlook: Mine supply tightness is hard to resolve, and production growth is likely to slow further.
Overall, spot TC for copper concentrates hit a record low in H1 2026, but supported by by-product earnings from sulphuric acid and precious metals, copper smelters' expansion pace was not fully halted. All 18 publicly listed firms posted higher profits with none reporting losses, which is clear evidence. However, it should be soberly noted that in January-June, the nonferrous metals smelting and rolling processing industry's total profit was 310.91 billion yuan, up 99.4% YoY (National Bureau of Statistics), with the bulk of profit growth coming from the mining segment and by-products. Copper smelting margins have approached the break-even point amid deeply negative TCs.
Looking ahead to H2, tight mine supply is unlikely to ease in the short term, and spot TC is expected to remain at low levels. If sulphuric acid prices retreat from highs due to geopolitical easing and recovery in sulphur supply, smelting profit support will weaken, and some high-cost capacity may respond by extending maintenance or reducing operating rates. Combined with a higher base, we expect China's H2 copper cathode production growth to slow further, with full-year combined output of publicly listed firms likely slightly above the 8.3174 million mt guidance, but the increment will narrow significantly compared with 2025.At the industry level, the launch of new capacity and the exit of outdated capacity are proceeding in parallel, and the concentration of the copper smelting industry is expected to continue to rise.
