SHANGHAI, May 9 (SMM) - SMM data showed that China’s copper cathode output stood at 970,000 mt in April, up 18,600 mt or 2% from the previous month and 17.2% from the same period in 2022. The actual output was 16,100 mt higher than the expected 953,900 mt. The output totalled 3.68 million mt in January-April, an increase of 352,900 mt or 10.6% year on year.
According to SMM statistics, six smelters carried out maintenance in April, which led to an output cut of 29,500 mt. However, the output in April increased 35,400 month-on-month due to the shorter statistical cycle of some large smelters in March. This, combined with the output increase of a smelter in central China, the commissioning of a smelter in Jiangxi and the resumption of a smelter in south China, the output in April exceeded the expectations. But the suspension of a small smelter in Jiangxi and the extremely low sulphuric acid prices still weigh on the output, although no smelter has reduced or stopped production due to the high sulphuric stocks. The average operating rate of the copper cathode industry rose 1.79 percentage points MoM to 91.40% in April.
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