Copper Semis News Today

China copper semis output stood at 1.63 million mt in January, down 21.1% month-on-month (MoM) and up 6.13% year-on-year (YoY), according to SMM research.

According to an SMM survey, the copper semis processing plants currently under construction will increase capacity by 1.493 million mt, including 920,000 mt of copper rod capacity, 348,000 mt of copper foil capacity and 225,000 mt of other copper semis capacity.

Copper semis processing enterprises across Jiangsu, Guangdong, Anhui and Guangxi have been significantly affected by the power rationing implemented in late September driven by the dual control policy on national energy consumption amid intensified contradiction between the supply and demand of electricity and coal.

Copper rod consumption was promising in April in the SMM survey conducted before the Qingming Festival holiday on copper rod producers using copper cathode as raw material, driven by improved consumption from power grids and the release of demand from wire and cables. However, orders have been unexpectedly weak after the Qingming Festival holiday. Please sign in to continue reading the full article for free Already registered? Sign in

Orders  continued to pick up last week along with improved orders at electric wire and cable and enamelled wire. Overall consumption of copper rods produced with copper cathode was strong last week but some enterprises saw poor orders. Copper prices exceeded 65,000 yuan/mt with big volatility, keeping most downstream buyers purchasing as required.

Operating rates did not rise sharply as higher costs driven by copper price gains post-CNY holidays shrank profits. Companies reported limited new orders even as copper prices continued to fall last week. New engineering projects have been low post-CNY holidays, while some of the enterprises remaining in operations were ending construction of projects scheduled for the end of last year, lowering purchases of cables significantly. However, with the stability of copper prices and the increase in e...