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Xingye Copper International Group Ltd. raised its copper plate and strip capacity to 80kt. Capacity expansion has been achieved by improving technology. The company is a major high precision copper plate and strip producer in China with two plants in Cixi City, Zhejiang Province and Yingtan City, Jiangxi Province. For FY2008, Xingye Copper reported operating income of 1.758 billion yuan, down by 16.1% y-o-y, and shipments of 44,387 tonnes compared to 51,889 tonnes in 2007.

The State Administration of Taxation in China announced that it will increase its export tax rebates on copper foil, plate and tube from 1st April. The policy was announced on 27th March and it aims to boost Chinese exports. Copper plate's export tax rebate will rise from 5% to 9%, copper foil's from 5% to 13%, and copper tube's from 9% to 13%. It is expected that the measure will support the copper semis market.

Chinalco Luoyang Copper Co. Ltd., a Chinese high-precision copper plate and strip producer, plans to raise production by 18% y-o-y to 160,000-170,000t in 2011. The expected increase is the result of a capacity expansion through the completion of a 105,000t/y production line. Total capacity now amounts to 210,000t/y, however, production remains suppressed due to ongoing testing at the US$349M new plant in Luoyang City, Central Henan province. In 2010, Chinalco Luoyang Copper Co. Ltd.'s production was 140,000t of copper plate and strip.

Nisshin Steel Co, the Japanese manufacturer of steel flat-rolled products, announced on April 12th that it will establish a joint venture in China with another Japanese company to manufacture copper plated steel. According to the company, the joint venture will make copper plated steel for the automotive sector and will target Japanese automakers based in China.

According to the General Research Institute of Mining & Metallurgy, it is a misconception to that 50-60% of copper is absorbed by China's power industry. The industry body posits that 30% of copper consumption is attributed to infrastructure projects, which include power, rail and telecommunications. 21% is absorbed by the construction, 20% for the production of consumer goods and 7% by industrial equipment manufacturers. The research institute forecasts copper consumption growth of 5% in the power industry this year and considers it to be the key driving force behind overall Chinese copper demand, which it expects to increase 4.1% in the same period.

Xingye Copper International Group plans to commission its 25,000t/y copper plate and strip project in Zhejiang province by 2014. The company already operates a copper and copper alloy plate and strip plant.

Henan Sanfeng Copper Company began producing copper strip and plate at its new facility, which can output up to 50,000t/y. Plans remain to increase capacity to 100,000t/y of copper strip and plate in the second phase expansion of the operation. Total investment into the mill is expected to number RMB1.4B. The plant utilises refined copper as its raw material.

It was reported that Chinalco Luoyang Copper will soon complete its 100ktpy copper strip and plate project, which commenced in July 2007. Investment amounted to 2.3B yuan and it is expected that when commissioned it will realise 5.6B yuan of annual sales income. The company was founded in 1954 and has annual capacity of 120kt of non ferrous metals products and 50kt of refined copper.

It was reported that equipment installation at Jiangxi Copper Corporation's (JCC) 100,000t/y copper plate and strip project has been completed. The project began in March 2011, and throughout the installation process, the plant produced 1,000t of copper plate and strip, of which 900t have been sold. JCC is a leading Chinese copper producer and fabricator.

A recent survey by the Shanghai Metals Market of 21 major Chinese copper plate, sheet, strip and foil producers, with a total capacity of 966,200t/y, showed that operating rates in February fell to 42%, as factories shut for the Chinese New Year holiday. Copper flat-rolled producers closed facilities as migrant workers returned to their homes and did not come back to work until after the lantern festival in late February. Survey participants were reporting better levels of demand post holiday as end-users such as the automotive industry and the lithium ion battery industry increased production. Survey participants expect utilisation to increase to around 60% in March.

Yangzhou Baosheng Copper Industry, a large Chinese manufacturer of wire and cable, announced on 12th December that it had placed an order with Germany's SMS Meer for a CONTIROD system to be installed at its plant in Baoying, Jiangsu province. The new system, which has a capacity of 48t/h, will come into action in 2014 and will enable the company to expand its range of products.

According to an annual survey from Antaike, operating rates at Chinese copper fabricators were on average 2.66 percentage points lower in 2012 than in 2011. The sector that saw the largest slow down in utilisation was the copper tube sector, down 7.27 percentage points in 2012, due to low operating rates in air conditioner sector denting the demand for copper tube in China. Wire manufacturers and foil manufacturers were reported to have fared better in 2012, with utilisation rates rising modestly.

Henan-based Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube (Henan Golden Dragon), the world's largest manufacturer of commercial copper tube, will open a new 30,000t/y high precision copper tube factory in July 2013. Henan Golden Dragon begun production of the facility in May 2012 and have invested a total of RMB 380M (USD60.5M). The factory will produce high precision copper tube.

A joint venture between Hong Kong Huakun International and Zhejiang Tangmen Metal Structure will invest RMB300M to fully commission a 100,000t/y copper plate and 50,000t/y copper foil production facility. The operation will be based in Fuzhou Jinchao Economic Development Zone and is anticipated to come on-stream 2 years after the September 2012 start-of-construction date.

Hubei Environmental Protection Department and Huangshi Environmental Protection Bureau have approved Chinalco Central China Copper Co., Ltd's 135,000t/y copper plate and strip plant. The mill was put into production this year and involved a total estimated investment of RMB1.7B.

Operations have commenced at Anhui Jingcheng Copper Share Co. Ltd.'s high precision copper plate and strip project. The new facility will manufacture 30,000t/y of material.

Anhui Jingcheng Copper announced that is has commissioned its high precision copper plate and strip operation. The plant will produce 30,000t/y of material.