Events of China's copper processing industry in 2022

1. The output of copper materials continues to remain stable with an increase.

 New energy and power systems are driving copper consumption much more than expected, offsetting the impact of declining demand from traditional industries and the pandemic. Import substitution and increased exports also contributed to output growth.

2. Net exports of copper materials hit a record high

From January to November, the import of processed copper materials was 407,000 tons, down 21.5% year on year, and the export was 635,000 tons, up 5.3% year on year, achieving a net export of 228,000 tons, far exceeding the 101,000 tons in 2021 and hitting a record high, achieving a net export for four consecutive years.

3. The new energy sector has driven copper consumption far more than expected

 According to statistics, more than 560,000 tons of copper will be used in the new energy sector in 2022 compared to 2021. Among them, the amount of copper used for new-energy vehicles increased by about 400,000 tons, for photovoltaic power generation by about 100,000 tons, and for energy storage by about 60,000 tons.

4. Electrolytic copper foil project construction heat is not reduced

5. The sharp fluctuation of copper price has troubled the normal operation of copper processing enterprises

6. The standard system of the copper processing industry has been further improved to facilitate the high-quality and green development of the industry.

The copper processing industry completed 22 national standards and 33 industrial standards, among which the standard GB/T5231-2022 "Processing Copper and Copper Alloy brands and Chemical Composition" was released and implemented. The new standard has 346 copper alloy brands, 133 more than the 2012 version.