Swapping aluminum for copper will maintain China’s resources, group says
China depends on overseas imports for 60% of its aluminum resources as opposed to 70% of its copper resources.
China’s major copper smelters lifted August refined cathode output by 2.7% from the prior month, incentivised by higher treatment charges and rising prices for byproduct sulphuric acid, state-backed research house Antaike said on Thursday.
The 22 smelters surveyed by Antaike churned out 767,600 tonnes of cathodes last month, also up 5.3% year-on-year, even as restrictions on metal producers’ power use in several Chinese regions constrained output.
Antaike sees September cathode production rising to around 780,000 tonnes despite more maintenance this month as treatment charges, a key source of smelter revenue, hover near 16-month highs above $60 a tonne.
Zinc output from 51 smelters was 449,000 tonnes in August, down 1.1% year-on-year and 2.2% month-on-month, said Antaike. It expects September output to edge up to 458,000 tonnes due to restarts, although power supply fears linger.
Major lead smelters’ refined output in August inched up 0.1% year-on-year and was flat on July at 425,000 tonnes, said Antaike, which sees September production slipping to 420,000 tonnes on maintenance in Yunnan, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia.
(By Tom Daly; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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