Chinese Copper Output Hits Record on Tailwind From Sulfuric Acid

Copper smelters in China churned out a record volume of refined metal last month, as surging prices of byproduct sulfuric acid encouraged higher output and aided the industry’s profitability.

Production of the metal that’s key to the energy transition rose to 1.33 million tons in March, the highest in data going back to 1990, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. That brought output in the first quarter to 3.785 million tons, up 9.3% on-year.