China’s copper boom under threat as miners test bargaining power

This photo taken on May 17, 2025 shows the Dexing Copper Mine, an open-pit copper mine in Dexing, in China's central Jiangxi province. China’s refined copper output is set to rise ten per cent in the first half of this year and nearly five per cent for the full year. - AFP

BEIJING: The unrelenting expansion of Chinese copper processing capacity over the past few years has now become a global headache, as smelters scramble to secure the ore they need to produce the vital industrial metal.

Output in the world’s top producer of the refined metal has ballooned to a record this year, even in the face of trade tensions wars that are clouding the outlook for demand. The resulting competition has handed bargaining power to some of the world’s largest miners.