China ranks third in the world for copper in concentrate production, following Chile and Peru, accounting for approximately 9.4% of global supply. Despite this significant position in the copper concentrate supply chain, the country struggles to meet its rapidly increasing demand.
As
the global centre of primary smelters, China has seen fast growth in its copper
smelting capacity for more than 10 years. The country's primary smelting capacity
expanded to around 10.8Mtpa in 2023 from 5.7Mtpa in 2008. However, the
development of copper mining in China lags behind its smelting capacity expansion.
Miners
face numerous challenges, including declining copper grades, deeper mining
conditions, stricter environmental and social standards, and occasional
accidents. China’s copper concentrate self-sufficiency rate almost halved over
the past decade to below 20% in 2023.
