Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) reported that the average operating rates of copper cablemakers in China rose by 10 percentage points to reach 78.7% in August. Newly tendered contracts from the State Grid Corporation of China during July and August led to the production increase. Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics also indicate that cable output rose by 2.5% m-o-m to 3.53M km in August. In addition to this, an August survey of Chinese copper wirerod fabricators by SMM showed a 2 percentage point increase in the industry's average utilisation rate from the previous month, reaching 75%.

Ural Metal and Mining Company (UMMC), a Russian vertically integrated producer of semi fabricated products, has said that it will continue its investment projects in semi-finished copper and copper alloy products despite a 6% y-o-y Jan-July decline in rolled demand this year. The company broke this figure down into its constituent segments: demand for copper pipes fell by 18% y-o-y and flat rolled products sales dropped 8% y-o-y in Jan-July. UMMC currently sells between 58,000-62,000t of rolled products per annum through its Kirov (flat rolled), Revda (flat rolled), Kolchugtsvetmet (tubes) and Majdanpek (tubes) operations. UMMC will complete its delayed 4-year investment strategy in 2013 with an upgrade of machinery at its Kolchugtsvetmet operation.

Aurubis issued redundancy notices to 177 employees and began relocating rolling equipment to its facilities in Zutphen, Netherlands and Buffalo, USA. Aurubis took ownership of the facility from Luvata in September 2011 when it acquired Luvata's rolled products division. However, structural overcapacity due to longterm declining demand in the European copper strip for engine cooling segment led to the operation generating losses in the past few years. In an earlier announcement on Aurubis' website, the company said that production at Finspång would be gradually reduced from mid-2013 with the company expecting to finalise the closure in late 2013.

S.A. Eredi Gnutti Metalli S.p.A., an Italian copper and copper-alloy extrusions and flat rolled product fabricator, has taken over Dalmet S.p.A., another Italian company which competes in the production of copper and copper-alloy flat rolled products. Dalmet has the capacity to supply 3,000t/y of flat rolled products to the electrical, electromechanical, electronic and automotive components, ornaments, door locks and medals manufacturing markets. With this acquisition Eredi Gnutti increases its rolling and casting capacity.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported an acceleration in automotive sales and production on both a sequential and y-o-y basis in August. Auto output rose by 4.5% m-o-m and 7.8% y-o-y and sales rose by 8.4% m-o-m and by 8.3% y-o-y in August. The industry's performance in August compared to last year has resulted in an improvement in the year-to-date production figure, which now stands at 12.47M units, up by 5.2% y-o-y. Production of passenger vehicles has outperformed those of commercial vehicles, up by 8.7% y-t-d (reaching 10.0M units) and down by 7.2% y-t-d (reaching 2.5M units), respectively.

The Ministry of Finance announced that a subsidy package worth RMB14.0B (US$2.22B) will be introduced to encourage sales of energy-saving desktop computers and air conditioners. The subsidy program will last one year and it is hoped that it will result in the market share of energy-saving products rising to 40% of the total.

Antaike reported that newly added copper wirerod capacity amounted to 2.55Mt/y in 2011 but is expected to rise at a slower rate between 2012 and 2014. Total additional capacity is currently projected to be 3.89Mt/y across that date range. Investors are attracted to copper wirerod projects because of the combination of high yield, low capital cost and a perception of good demand prospects for the domestic power cable industry.

An opening ceremony was held to mark an agreement to build a new 150,000t/y copper semis facility in the Jinchao Economic and Development Zone, Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province. Construction is expected to commence this month, in September 2012. The operation, which is a joint venture between Hong Kong Huakun International Co. Ltd. and Zheiang Tangmen Metal Structure Co. Ltd., will be capable of producing 100,000t/y of copper flat rolled products and 50,000t/y of copper foil.

It was reported that Shandong Xiangrui Copper Semis Co. Ltd. bought a new 320,000t/y copper semis production facility into full operation during late August. The plant produces a variety of products. It's capacity includes 95,000t/y of copper wirerod, 100,000t/y of copper strip, 20,000t/y of overhead railway conductors and 10,500t/y of bare copper wire. Contirod continuous casting technology from Germany will be used for the process.

Amer International Group, a Chinese copper products fabricator, announced that it is building a 500,000t/y copper wire and rod plant in Zhangmutou Town, Dongguan City, Gunagdong Province. The facility will have additional capacity to produce 100,000t/y of copper alloy products. The company expects to bring the operation on stream by 2015 and the combined investment cost amounts to RMB11.2B (US$1.8B). Amer currently has an attributable wirerod production capacity of 250,000t/y through its subsidiary's plant situated in the Tongling Economic and Technological Development Zone. The company is targeting a wirerod production capacity of 1.5Mt/y via two further projects.

Haier Group Corp., a leading Chinese appliance manufacturer, has expressed an interest in acquiring Fisher & Paykel Appliances, a smaller New Zealand-based appliance maker. Haier already owns a 20% shareholding of the New Zealand company and has exclusive rights to sell its product range in China. F&P also sells Haier's products in the Australia, New Zealand and more recently in the Irish markets.

The National Development and Reform Commission of China approved 25 new urban rail transit and intercity rail projects in investment programmes worth RMB800B (US$127B). The projects are expected to be completed in the next three to eight years. Local governments will be major investors, however, banks loans are also expected to constitute a significant portion of the total investment funding.

Jinchuan Group began construction of its 300,000t/y continuously cast copper rod and rolled products operation. The company is China's third largest producer of refined copper, with a reported capacity of 600,000t/y.

Zhejiang Honglei Copper, a Shenzhen listed Chinese copper tube and wire manufacturer, expects to commission a new 30,000t/y special enamelled wire production line on 31 December 2012. Total investment is anticipated to reach RMB175M.

Zhejiang Honglei Copper, a Shenzhen-listed Chinese copper tube and wire manufacturer, announced that its RMB163M, 150,000t/y copper-alloy rolled products project has entered a testing phase. The facility uses continuous casting and rolling process equipment from Germany.

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.

The China Electricity Council reported that power investment increased by 2.3% y-o-y in H1 2012, representing a significant slow-down after the 9.1% y-o-y rise seen in H1 2011. Investment in the power grid rose by 8.0% y-o-y, while power generation investment was down by 2.6% y-o-y.

Official data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology revealed that major electronic information manufacturing company profits declined by 14% y-o-y, reaching RMB122B in H1 2012. The decline in profits was attributed to weakening orders caused by the European debt crisis and slowing world economy. The number of electronic manufacturers reporting a loss over H1 2012 rose by 20.2% y-o-y, to reach 4,250, which is thought to be as a result of high financing costs.

KME Group, a European producer of copper rolled products and tubes, announced that company revenues (excluding the cost of raw materials) declined by 11% y-o-y to reach €376M. KME mainly attributes the decline to weak macroeconomic conditions caused by the European sovereign debt crisis which began in H2 2011. Copper price volatility has also led to cautious buying of copper products. The company said that it experienced a continued downturn in sales within the industrial sector (approximately 75% of revenue) in Italy and Spain in H1 2012, while France held-up better. Sales contracted period-on-period and year-on-year in the brass rods segment and in rolled products for the construction market. In addition, shipments to domestic appliance and air conditioner manufacturers were stagnant y-o-y in H1. A bright spot was seen in sales of automotive and mechanical components as well as products associated with the electrical industry.

Aurubis AG reported that its production of copper wirerod was down by 22% y-o-y and 14% q-o-q to reach 155,000t in Q2 2012, marking a faster decline from the 17% y-o-y fall in Q1 2012. The company said that the decrease in volumes was driven by slower demand from cable and enamelled wire producers. This came despite stronger demand from the automotive sector and signs of a pick-up in demand from the infrastructure sector in late Q2. Aurubis also produces copper and copper-alloy shapes, pre-rolled products, finished flat rolled products and speciality wire. Output of shapes fell by 25% y-o-y and 13% q-o-q to reach 41,000t in Q2, due to weak demand from semi-fabricators. However at Schwermetall, the company's 50%-owned subsidiary, production of pre-rolled strip decreased by only 5% y-o-y to reach 49,000t in Q2, as demand from semi-fabricators for this product held-up better. The year-on-year change in finished flat rolled products output was distorted by the acquisition of Luvata's rolled products division (RPD). However, volumes in the division did fall by 5% q-o-q reaching 57,000t in Q2, contributing towards across-the-board sequential declines for Aurubis' copper products output in Q2.