According to SAVANT satellite surveillance data, due to the pandemic blockade that has inhibited industrial activities, mainly in Europe and North America, in January 2021, global copper smelting activities have declined.

Earth-i, which specializes in geospatial data, launched the SAVANT service at the end of last year, tracking more than 100 smelters, which account for 80% to 90% of global production.

Data monitoring agencies SAVANT and Marex Spectron said in a joint statement on Tuesday that even the largest producer, China, has declined, from a high level.

"The main reason for the global weakness in January was the sharp decline in activity levels in Europe and the continued weakness in North America. Obviously, this is related to the pandemic," explained Guy Wolf, Marex's head of global analysis.

"The slowdown in China's economy that we saw before the end of January came after a rather intense period, which shows that a certain amount of replenishment has been carried out before the Spring Festival holiday."

SAVANT sells data to fund managers, traders and miners, and publishes a free monthly index of global copper smelter activity. In January, its global index fell to an average of 46.5 from 55.2 a month ago.

According to SAVANT's index, 50 points is the average operating level of global smelters in the past 12 months. It also has a second index showing the percentage of active smelters.

Among them, Europe fell from 59.9 last month to 41.3 in January, while North America is still sluggish, falling from 33.6 in December to 33.2. China, the world's largest producer of refined copper, fell from 55.5 to 50.3 in January.

Article information source-cable net