Driven by China, global copper smelting activities climbed in December

Data from satellite monitoring of copper plants shows that global copper smelting activities climbed in December last year, led by the major producer China, while North America continued its downward trend due to a surge in coronavirus cases.

Satellite service provider SAVANT and broker Marex Spectron said in a joint statement on Thursday that copper smelting activity in Europe has declined slightly but remains strong.

"China and the rest of Asia continued the rapid expansion momentum in November last year, but as the Chinese New Year is about to usher in, we expect activity levels to slow down," said Guy Wolf, Marex's head of global analysis, who helped develop SAVANT.

"The most prominent data in December is still North America, where the epidemic has pushed down activity levels to close to this year's low."

Earth-i, which specializes in geospatial data, launched the SAVANT service at the end of last year, tracking more than 100 smelters, accounting for 80% to 90% of global production.

It sells data to fund managers, traders and miners, and publishes a free monthly global copper smelter activity index.

Its global dispersion index rose from 53.0 a month ago to an average of 55.2 in December.

According to SAVANT's dispersion index, 50 points indicate that the operation level of the smelter is at the average level of the past 12 months. It also has a second index showing the percentage of active smelters.

China, the world's largest producer of refined copper, rose from 48.6 a month ago to 55.5 in December, while North America fell to 33.6 from 36.6 in November and 45.4 in October.