FOCUS: China's widening power curbs threaten copper smelters, fabricators

Copper smelters and fabricators in some Chinese provinces are facing limits on power usage. The impact on production has been limited so far, but the threat may grow once winter arrives.

China started introducing power-consumption limits in some provinces in July this year due to power shortages. The curbs have been extended recently into a larger area of the country, including Jiangsu, Shandong and Guangxi, in line with the country's carbon-reduction efforts.
Limited impact on production so far
Copper smelters are much less energy intensive than aluminium smelters, so the recent power curbs have had very limited impact on the former's production, market participants told Fastmarkets.
"Our smelter is being affected by the power limits, and the impact on production is not big so far, but it really depends on how long the curbs will last, and many other sectors are being affected in different ways now," a copper smelter source said.

"Our unit is under maintenance now and plans to come...

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