China Daye has raised its annual copper cathode output guidance by 5,000mt to 510,000mt, with an increase in smelting rates expected through the rest of the year.
The group also noted a steady rise in copper prices from $4,371/mt in March to $6,633/mt in mid-July because demand grew so high that it couldn’t be met by imports. Daye anticipates that prices will keep rising because of robust consumption in the construction sector.
Daye has begun construction on a copper project that’s slated to produce 400,000mt a year and will be fed by the adjacent Tongshankou Mine in the Hubei province.
The mining company produced 240,930mt of copper cathode in H1 2020, declining by 10.5pc from the first half of 2019, while iron ore concentrate volumes declined by 16pc to 71,700mt over that time.
Daye posted revenue of CNY12bn ($1.76bn) in the first six months of 2020, decreasing by 31pc from H1 2019. The company had a net loss of CNY50.5mn in H1 2020 after recording a CNY3.9mn net loss during the first six months of last year.
($1 = CNY6.85)