Copper smelters not as much active in first two months of 2024

More global copper smelters were not operating in the first two months of the year than in the same period last year, mainly because of Chinese inactivity, data from satellite surveillance of metal processing plants showed.

Earth-i, which specialises in observational data, tracks smelters representing up to 90% of global production for its SAVANT service and sells data to fund managers, traders and miners.

The company said that an average of 11.5% of copper smelter capacity monitored was inactive during January and February, compared with 8.6% in the same period last year.

Inactive capacity in China rose to 8.3% from 4.8% a year earlier, with the Baotou and Kunming smelters showing as not operating.

Processing fees for copper concentrate in China have plummeted to their lowest in more than a decade owing to short supply but could recover in the second quarter when maintenance season begins, industry experts said last week.

The statement from Earth-i said there were no major developments outside of China.

“We picked up minor outages in mid-February at Australia’s Olympic Dam and Chile’s Chuquicamata,” it added.