Expert: Many Chinese high-end Cu products still under par
Source: BNamericas
Chinese copper tubes are meeting world quality standards, but its copper sheets, strips, foils and other high precision products remain below par, according to the deputy general director of copper for China's Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Organization, Shang Fushan.
Challenges in China's struggle to increase the quality of these products include over-investment in exploration and mining projects that have left smelter capacity at a deficit, Fushan said in a presentation at the CRU 6th World Copper Conference in Chilean capital Santiago.
High copper prices have helped trigger a stampede of investments into new projects that threaten to further expand China's concentrate output, Fushan added.
Industry fragmentation is also a challenge. In 2000, three companies produced 37.7% of the country's copper concentrate 517,000t output, while in 2006 eight companies accounted for 70.5% of China's 2.11Mt total production, according to Fushan's presentation.
However, China continues to house many small-scale producers with little technology that concentrate on low-end copper products, which are mostly poor in quality, he said. |
