China's refined copper production jumped 13.6% year on year to a record high of 732,746 mt in October, the state-owned nonferrous metals information division Beijing Antaike said late Monday, November 17, citing the country's National Bureau of Statistics.
The October output was up 2.5% from September.
Year-to-date output figures were not available. An Antaike official said previously that China produced 5.65 million mt in the first nine months, compared with 5.05 million mt in January-September 2013.
Over January-October, Platts calculated that China's refined copper output was around 6.38 million mt, up 11.9% year on year.
The Antaike official said China's higher refined copper output was in line with the country's higher capacities, which are expected to rise 11.1% year on year to around 10 million mt in 2014.
China's imports of copper concentrate rose 17.2% year on year to 9.5 million mt in January-October, according to preliminary data from the General Administration of Customs.
China's domestic refined copper output is expected to rise 5.6% year on year to 6.6 million mt in 2014, the Antaike analyst said.
