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| Global Copper |
In May, around 20% of global copper smelting facilities ceased operations for scheduled maintenance, significantly impacting production capacity.
Data from Earth-i's SAVANT service, which monitors copper smelters representing 90% of global output using satellite observations, revealed that 20.8% of global production capacity was offline last month. This marks a notable increase from 17.4% in May of the previous year, with a peak of 25.4% non-operational capacity recorded on May 8.
In China, three smelters that had been shut down for maintenance at the end of April resumed operations. However, major facilities like Xingguang Copper, Shandong Fangyuan, and Hunchun remain offline. Additionally, the Lualaba smelter in the Democratic Republic of Congo, owned by a Chinese entity, is currently undergoing maintenance.
These disruptions underscore the ongoing challenges within the copper industry, as maintenance and operational issues continue to affect global supply.
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