In mid-September Copper plate market witnessed a bearish pattern with prices in China falling. The bearish sentiment is created by an influx of feedstock and finished goods as well as weak downstream consumption.
Key Highlights:
For the week ending September 19, copper plate prices have fallen by -1%. On the copper plate enterprises' production schedule, although September is typically the busy production season for the industry, some companies remain somewhat negative on end-use demand. The strength in copper prices at the beginning of the month has substantially dampened market demand, and September's expectations also fell and the expectations are less bullish than at the beginning of September due to the high price. In August 2025, China's refined copper production was 1.301 million tons, 14.8% higher, year-on-year, very close to potentially a record volume, raising some market concerns regarding oversupply.
The copper plate manufacturing business has experienced mixed conditions recently. On the one hand, higher copper prices have brought a slight uptick in the availability of recycled copper raw materials. On the other hand, a number of manufacturers that suspended operations due to policy indecision have yet to restart. As a result of modifications in the secondary copper market, or scrap area, this created tighter access to recycled inputs for some companies, with materials becoming harder to procure; higher price points which resulted in reduced operating rates across the board as a result.
Demand for copper plates stayed sluggish all September, and consumption was not as strong as anticipated during the traditional "Golden September" period. Despite the seasonality, downstream activity did not pick up in the second half of the month. Orders for copper plate grew slower than expected due to limited demand from major end-user sectors, including home appliances and photovoltaics, combined with copper prices having surged during late August and limited orders from downstream buyers.
According to feedback provided by leading OEMs, the expansion of copper plate supplier networks this year has made the order book more balanced across manufacturers of different sizes, reducing the concentration of orders in larger producers. For September 2025, domestic sales of household air conditioners are estimated to be 5.72 million units, a decline of 6.3% over last year. The export units are estimated for 5.025 million units, representing a larger year-on-year decrease of 16.6% from last year’s data, both trends contribute to less demand for copper plate in the appliance market.
Demand for copper plate from the construction industry has yet to pick up due to continuing weakness in the property sector in China. The continued decline in resale home prices month on month, of more than two percent over the last two months, indicated little pickup in construction activity. Even though there were some supportive policies in place for construction projects, the high inventory of second-hand housing stock and widespread “price-for-volume” strategies meant demand remained soft. Some cities like Beijing and Shanghai relaxed restrictions on some suburban purchases, but with continued oversupply and low buyer confidence, this put pressure on recovery, which limited momentum for copper plate consumption in the construction sector.
