Global copper smelting slides to two-year low in April

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters): Global copper smelting activity slid in April to the lowest level in two years as Chinese operations shut for maintenance and plants in North America slowed down, data from satellite surveillance of metal processing plants showed on Friday.

In Central Asia, smelters in Turkey and Kazakhstan were inactive at the end of the month, commodities broker Marex and the SAVANT satellite service said in a statement.

Earth-i, which specialises in observational data, tracks smelters representing 80-90 per cent of global production. It sells data to fund managers, traders and miners, It also publishes a free monthly index of global copper smelter activity.

Its global copper dispersion index, a measure of smelter activity, fell to 44.0 in April from 46.8 in March. The April reading was the lowest since March 2021.