China copper smelters eye more output cuts as raw material supply tightens
CRU predicts a shortage of concentrate feed globally in 2025 at 1.1 million metric tons of copper-in-concentrate.
China’s daily coal output in June rose 6.6% from a month earlier as miners cranked up output ahead of peak summer temperatures, when electricity demand surges as households turn on air conditioners to keep cool.
China produced 379.31 million tonnes of coal last month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Friday, equivalent to 12.64 million tonnes per day.
That compares with 11.87 million tonnes per day in May.
Coal output over the first six months of 2022 reached 2.19 billion tonnes, up 11% from the same period last year, statistics bureau data showed.
Beijing has been urging miners to ramp up production and has accelerated approvals of new mining capacity to ensure enough supply and to avoid widespread power outages similar to ones that hit Chinese manufacturers last year.
The central government has targeted daily coal production of 12.6 million tonnes this year and asked miners to prioritise supply to power utilities at mandated prices.
June power generation rose 1.5% from a year ago to 709 billion kilowatt-hours, statistics showed, the first growth in three months as covid-19 lockdowns eased.
Several regions across China recorded all-time high power loads this week amid extremely high temperatures.
Daily coal consumption at major utilities in Chinese coastal regions climbed to around 2 million tonnes in the first week of July, little change from the volumes burned in the same period last year, data tracked by the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association showed.
Total coal inventory at utilities across China reached 170 million tonnes this week, up 55% from a year ago, the National Development and Reform Commission said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Some traders and analysts say coal output in China may have hit a ceiling, however, with very little mining capacity to be added in the near term because newly-approved mines will need time to get up and running and existing mines are already producing at maximum rates.
Recent heavy rainfalls in the major coal mining regions of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Shaanxi have also put a lid on production.
(By Muyu Xu; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Jamie Freed)
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