London 21/12/2015 - Major Chinese copper smelters confirmed at a meeting on Saturday cuts of at least 350,000 tonnes of refined metal output in 2016 and to move ahead with plans to stockpile metal.
Some of the smelters are already making specific plans for next year's cuts, which could exceed the minimum agreed level of 350,000 tonnes, various smelter sources told FastMarkets.
A cut of this magnitude is equivalent to 3.5 percent of total consumption of refined copper in China, which is estimated at 10 million tonnes in 2015.
"The actual cuts will be more than 350,000 tonnes. Many smelters have increased the amount of the cuts," a well-informed industry source confirmed.
Most of the smelters that attended the meeting are members of the China Smelters Purchase Team (CSPT), including Jiangxi Copper, Tongling Nonferrous Metals, Jinchuan Group and Daye Nonferrous Metals.
High-level executives from the smelters also discussed stockpiling of copper but the volume of metal to be stockpiled has not been confirmed, according to a source.
"There will be some stockpiling movements but we don't know the exact number yet," he said.
(Edited by Mark Shaw)