China’s copper enamelled wire exports rose in April 2026, driven by strong new energy demand and rapidly growing Turkish shipments.
In April 2026, China's copper enamelled wire exports demonstrated continued high prosperity, with monthly exports reaching 13,716 metric tons (mt), marking a 3.77% increase year-on-year (YoY). These exports were distributed across 133 countries and regions, highlighting China's extensive reach in the global market.
Key export destinations included Vietnam, Japan, and South Korea, which collectively accounted for approximately 32% of total exports. While exports to Vietnam saw a modest increase of 1.5% YoY, shipments to Japan and South Korea experienced a pullback compared to the previous year. A significant development was the surge in exports to Turkey, which skyrocketed by 544.3% YoY, positioning it as the fourth-largest market for Chinese copper enamelled wire. Conversely, exports to Thailand declined by 27.8% YoY, causing it to drop to fifth place. This shift in market dynamics indicates a diversification of China's export focus and emerging strong demand in specific regions.
The sustained high prosperity in exports, despite some market pullbacks, suggests underlying resilience in certain demand sectors. Although the broader enamelled wire industry faced challenges in April, with a decline in the comprehensive operating rate both month-on-month and year-on-year, demand from the new energy and power sectors remained robust, providing crucial support. This structural divergence indicates that while traditional industrial motors, two-wheelers, and home appliance sectors showed mediocre performance and declining demand, the growth in green energy and infrastructure projects likely fueled the export strength. High copper prices in April also suppressed new order growth in some segments, contributing to a weakening industry sentiment and an increase in finished product inventories for enamelled wire enterprises.
From an industry-specific perspective, the overall operating rate for the enamelled wire industry in April was 75.31%, a decrease of 2.44 percentage points month-on-month and 1.48 percentage points YoY. This decline was attributed to factors such as reduced demand from the home appliance sector, the depletion of subsequent procurement demand following earlier concentrated orders, and the pressure from elevated copper prices. Enterprises built up finished product inventories ahead of the Labour Day holiday, but weak downstream willingness to pick up goods led to slower post-holiday shipments.
Geopolitically, earlier analyses in March indicated that intensifying US-Iran conflicts and heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East could introduce uncertainties and phased pressure on China's copper enamelled wire exports to markets like the UAE and Turkey. Despite this, Turkey's exceptional growth in April suggests that demand in certain regions might be overriding broader geopolitical concerns, at least for the short term. The overall picture reveals a complex interplay of strong export performance in niche markets, coupled with internal industry pressures and potential geopolitical headwinds.
