China’s copper smelting reaches its record volumes

China’s copper smelting factories achieved record amounts of production last month. It happened due to increasing prices on joint production of gold and sulfuric acid.

According to China’s National Bureau of Statistic (NBS), the output of refined metal increased by 8.6% and reached 1.25 million tons. 

Analyst of Couyan Futures Co. Fan Rui claims that sales of by-products of copper manufacturing have been significantly increasing and affecting the revenue of smelting companies. Especially, he stressed the benefit from gold and sulfuric acid production.

It’s necessary to point that since the end of 2023 the cost of bullion exceeded $3300, showing 60% growth. 

NBS data also showed that the sulfuric acid cost reached its maximum since March 2022 and increased by 50% compared to last year. 

The total share of produced refined copper in China amounted to 3.54 million tons in the first quarter of 2025. It surpassed last year's figure by 5%.