China’s Copper Smelting Capacity to Increase

Increase of copper smelting capacity becomes for real in China. The Chinese authority has already had decided on its policy on control of excessive copper business investment. While doubt about entire achievement of the plan that the increase will be 2 million tonnes as a total, which is said, remains strong. On the other hand, some forecast that there will be the increase by about 500,000 tonnes in 2006 exceeding the annual production scale of the biggest copper smelter in Japan and the annual increase by tens of thousands tones will be realized. China’s increase of copper smelting capacity will have much influence on international copper ore and scrap supply-demand. A copper smelter in China which also raises poultry aims at electrolytic copper production at 200,000 tonnes per year. China’s and other foreign country’s copper market people had called the smelter’s move symbol of copper investment climate in China. There was formal contract about construction of the firm’s copper smelting plant called “Green Field.” The smelter plans to start the operation from the fourth quarter of this year. There is some possibility that this firm’s good smelting operation will be the symbol of success in copper smelting to newcomers to the business.