UPDATE 2-China copper, lead output hit records in Nov
By Polly Yam | Reuters – Mon, Dec 13 1:37 PM IST
in.news.yahoo.com
* Copper, lead output seen up in December
* Monthly refined copper, lead output hit records in Nov
* Aluminium drops 2.5 pct after a rise in the previous month
(Recasts with lead, zinc and forecast)
HONG KONG, Dec 13 (Reuters) - China's monthly production of refined copper and lead in November rose 10.8 percent and 8 percent, respectively, to record highs, setting a solid basis for another record month in December.
China, the world's leading consumer and producer of many base metals, produced 443,000 tonnes of refined copper in November, up 43,000 tonnes from October and 4.5 percent from a year ago, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.
The output surpassed the previous monthly record of 422,000 tonnes in June.
Increased supplies of copper concentrate and scrap, both used for refined metal production, and high metal prices had prompted smelters to make more metal, analysts said.
"The main reason for the output rise was that raw materials have increased since late October," said Fu Bin, analyst at Jinrui Futures in Shenzhen, a unit of the country's top copper producer, Jiangxi Copper.
A rise in treatment and refining charges that Chinese smelters receive from overseas sellers for converting spot copper concentrate imports into refined metal had boosted profits for smelters, Fu said, adding that supplies of copper scrap in China had also increased, prompted by strong metal prices.
Spot copper in China reached record highs of 67,725 yuan per tonne in November following then record prices on the London Metal Exchange copper , which hit an all-time record on Monday.
Jiangxi Copper planned to repair a 200,000-tonne-a-year smelter this month but the firm's refined copper production would stay largely unaffected, a company source said.
"China's output in December may be flat or rise slightly," Fu predicted, citing sufficient supply of raw materials.
LEAD, ZINC, ALUMINIUM
China produced 448,000 tonnes of refined lead in November, up 8 percent from the previous months and 29.5 percent from the same month last year. The output surpassed the previous record of 421,000 tonnes in September.
Lead smelters in top lead producing province Henan restarted idle capacity in late October, boosting November's output, smelter officials said.
"Many have been reopening idle capacity as power supply resumed," said a trading manager at a lead smelter in Henan.
"Output in December will rise further, given smelters are gearing up production," he said of lead smelters in Henan.
Local governments in Henan had cut power supplies to lead smelters in October, which was part of local governments' efforts to help Beijing meet energy saving targets by the year-end, and a factor for a 1.4 percent fall in October output.
Multi-year high prices had also encouraged lead smelters to produce more last month, smelter officials said.
China produced 1.18 million tonnes of primary aluminium in November, down 2.5 percent from the previous month and 14.1 percent from the same month last year, the data showed.
Output went down after a rise in October for the first time in five months, as some smelters had still not received sufficient power supplies and had kept idle capacity shut, Fu said, adding that the startup of low-cost new primary aluminium capacity had briefly boosted production in October.
Large aluminium smelters in major producing provinces such as Henan and Guizhou received more electricity in November and have been restarting idle capacity slowly, which probably failed to boost the monthly output last month, smelter officials said.
Monthly refined zinc production dropped 2.5 percent to 468,000 tonnes in November after Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan
Nonfemet , China's third-biggest zinc producer, closed its Shaoguan lead and zinc smelter in Guangdong province completely on Oct 21 to comply with a pollution investigation. [ID:nTOE69L09B]
Shaoguan smelter is not expected to fully reopen this month.
But the November zinc output still rose 6.6 percent from the same month last year thanks to expanded capacity.
(Edited by Clarence Fernandez) |
