China June copper output hits six-month high, aluminium, zinc at record

China's production of refined copper rose 6.6 percent from the previous month in June, hitting a six-month high as some smelters reopened after maintenance and expanded output. Output reached 695,121 tonnes in June, compared with 652,379 tonnes in May, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday. The June output increased 13.1 percent from a year ago. For the first half of 2015, refined copper output rose 9.4 percent from a year ago to 3.78 million tonnes.
At least one large smelter resumed production in June after maintenance and another smelter expanded production last month, said Yang Changhua, senior analyst at state-backed research firm Antaike. Smelters increased production despite low domestic copper prices, which fell nearly 4 percent in June. A 200,000 tonnes-a-year smelter started production in May and its production is expected to rise gradually in the coming months.
Yang expects refined copper production to rise further in July due to the new smelter and as another large smelter completed maintenance this week. New capacity continued to drive up production of primary aluminium to a fresh record of 2.76 million tonnes in June, up 3.3 percent from May, the data showed. In the first half, aluminium output jumped 11.7 percent from a year ago to 15.6 million tonnes.
More than 2 million tonnes of aluminium capacity started production in the first half, said Xu Hongping, analyst at China Merchants Futures. Another 3 million tonnes of new capacity is likely to come onstream in the second half, she said. Production costs to many aluminium smelters had fallen due to weak prices of raw material alumina and coal, offsetting weak domestic prices Xu said. Xu expects aluminium production to rise further in the coming months.
Production of refined zinc hit a record in June, while lead, tin and nickel all rose to the highest levels this year. Steady metal prices and sufficient supplies of raw material zinc concentrate supported refined zinc production, which rose 5.3 percent from May to 559,490 tonnes in June. In the first half, refined zinc output rose 12.9 percent from a year ago to 3.07 million tonnes.
Lead output rose 6.9 percent from the previous month to 382,159 tonnes in June, the highest since June 2014. In the first half, lead output dropped 3.5 percent from a year ago to 2.05 million tonnes on weak demand and tight environmental requirements. Tin surged 27.3 percent on the month to 14,548 tonnes in June. Output in the first half dipped 1.5 percent from a year ago to 78,988 tonnes. Refined nickel jumped 12.5 percent from May to 33,863 tonnes in June. The half-year output was 176,274 tonnes, up 21.2 percent from a year ago.