BEIJING (Asian Metal) 25 Jan 21 - Jiangsu Baosheng Precision Conductor Co., Ltd., one of main copper rod producers in eastern China, expects production of just around 12,000t for January, about 4,000t less than the prior month, a source from the company told Asian Metal.

The company sees a sharp decrease of over 20% in orders this month due to the sluggish downstream demand for copper rod after the New Year's Day and the blocked transportation amid the COVID-19 epidemic in northern China. "We expect to cut production to around 12,000t in January, down by about 4,000t from the previous month," said the source, adding that they plan to suspend production early next month if the demand remains weak in the coming week.

The company now owns a SMS Siemag continuous casting and rolling production line with an annual production capacity of 300,000t of copper rod, and produced about 190,000t and 160,000t in 2019 and 2020 respectively. The company's copper rod products, apart from being used by itself, are mainly sold to wire and cable producers located around Jiangsu.

Mainstream TCs for copper rod Ф8mm were RMB430-630/t (USD66.35-97.21/t) EXW in Chinese market last Friday, down slightly by about RMB20/t (USD3.09/t) from early last week. Given that the downstream demand would keep shrinking before the Spring Festival, TCs for copper rod Ф8mm are expected to edge down further in Chinese market in the following week.