China's Household AC Exports Drop 9.6% in Volume, 14.4% in Value YoY in April 2026

As the United States continues to strengthen critical minerals security, domestic manufacturing, and copper supply chain resilience, limited smelting capacity is increasingly emerging as a key challenge. The country currently operates only a handful of primary copper smelters, while low treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) and rising environmental compliance costs continue to pressure profitability. Alongside efforts to expand domestic mining and manufacturing capacity, maintaining existing smelting operations and securing refined copper supply will remain critical to the long-term success of U.S. copper supply chain strategy. Continued pressure on the smelting sector could limit the country's ability to reduce reliance on imported refined copper in the near term.

[SMM North China Copper Cathode Spot Market] After copper prices continued to rise, demand in north China was suppressed and showed weakness. The spot market exhibited a significant discount premium with sluggish trading. Suppliers saw inventory tending to accumulate, and there were expectations to ship to delivery warehouse.