China's Copper Smelting Activity Declines

The unique geo-spatial analytics product launched in October 2019 by Earth-i and Marex, can track global copper smelting activity. The product now provides daily updates for global and regional indices, as well as China national and regional indices, accounting for 90% of copper and 96% of nickel global smelting capacity. ​

The strong increase in global copper smelting activity during May across all regions dropped off in June as China entered the seasonal maintenance window. However, global activity levels during the month remained well above the lows seen earlier this year, with small month-on-month increases in North America and Europe, and small decreases in South America and Asia excluding China.

The copper global activity dispersion index averaged 48.0. for the month, which is a small decline on the 49.4 of last month. The Activity Dispersion Index is a measure of capacity-weighted activity levels observed at smelter sites where a reading of 50 indicates that current activity levels are at average levels. Readings above or below 50 indicate greater or lesser activity levels than average, respectively. 

The China copper index fell to 47.0 from 48.9, as idle capacity rose to the highest level since last June, due to maintenance periods. Asia excluding China exhibited a similar profile to China, with activity levels falling to 48.2 from 51.5, again due to higher idle capacity. North America has been the slowest region to recover and only registered a relatively weak 38.9 in May, however, there was an improvement on previous periods, but this was sustained in June with an average 46.0. Europe's activity readings came in at 49.1 in June, an improvement on May’s 45.7. South America had been the standout region in May with a reading of 59.2 but has declined to 53.9 in June.

The SAVANT platform monitors up to 90% of Copper and 96% of Nickel smelting capacity around the globe. Using daily updated sources, including extensive use of geospatial data collected from satellites, the index reports on the activities at the world’s smelting plants offering subscribers unprecedented levels of coverage, accuracy and reliability. This dataset allows users to make better informed and more timely trading decisions. To find out more please visit SAVANT, or sign-up for the Free SAVANT service.