In July 2026, the operating rate of China's copper foil enterprises stood at 93.08%, up 1.6 ppts MoM and up 15.8 ppts YoY......

[SMM Analysis: End-Use Demand Remains Hot, Copper Foil Production and Sales Continue to Rise in July] According to SMM, the operating rate of China's copper foil enterprises in July 2026 was 93.08%, up 1.6 percentage points MoM and up 15.8 percentage points YoY......

According to SK Nexilis’ Polish subsidiary on August 6, the company recently received final approval from the Podkarpackie provincial government for an integrated environmental permit (IPPC) for its copper foil plant in Stalowa Wola. SK Nexilis applied for the permit in 2023. After the provincial government announced its approval decision in April this year, all related administrative procedures, including the objection period, were completed in June, allowing the permit to take final effect.

Baoming Technology stated on an interactive platform that the company is developing HVLP4/5 high-end copper foil for AI servers. Currently, the main technical indicators of the HVLP4/5 copper foil have completed in-house verification, and the company is arranging to send samples to downstream clients. However, the sample delivery and client verification cycle is relatively long, and there is uncertainty in the client verification results.

Nuode (600110) disclosed its semi-annual report on July 30. H1 revenue was 6.433 billion yuan, up 113.33% YoY;net profit attributable to shareholders of the publicly listed firm was 103 million yuan, versus a loss of 72.4329 million yuan in the same period last year, marking a turnaround to profitability YoY; basic earnings per share was 0.0598 yuan.During the reporting period, the supply-demand pattern of the lithium battery copper foil industry experienced a complete reversal:outdated low-end capacity continued to exit the market, the rollout of new capacity in the industry slowed down, and combined with the surge in demand from both power batteries and energy storage, copper foil processing fees bottomed out. Leveraging its differentiated product portfolio of ultra-thin lithium battery copper foil and high-end electronic copper foil, the company successfully achieved a turnaround to profitability, with overall profitability improving significantly QoQ and YoY.

With the booming development of the new energy vehicle industry, China's first wave of power batteries has entered a large-scale retirement phase. Recently, lithium battery recycling projects have been intensively launched across multiple regions nationwide, covering every link of the industrial chain — from dismantling and crushing to hydrometallurgy, from cascade utilization to material regeneration.

With the vigorous development of the NEV industry, China's first batch of power batteries entered a large-scale "retirement period." Recently, lithium battery recycling projects were intensively launched nationwide, from dismantling and crushing to hydrometallurgy, from second-life application to material regeneration, comprehensively accelerating the layout of all links in the industry chain.

Recently, the ecological environment authority of Ji'an, Jiangxi, released the proposed approval for the EIA report of the annual 15,000-ton spent LFP battery expansion project. The project involves a total investment of RMB 30 million, located in Chengnan Industrial Park, Xiajiang Industrial Park, Ji'an. Using spent LFP battery cells as raw material, it adopts processes including cutting, primary crushing, drying pyrolysis, cooling, and screening to produce battery powder, copper, and aluminum. Upon completion, it will achieve an annual processing capacity of 15,000 tons of spent LFP battery cells, yielding 8,878.39 tons of LFP battery powder, 1,499.72 tons of copper foil, and 1,143.17 tons of aluminum foil.

With the continuous expansion of the AI computing power industry, market demand for computing servers, high-speed optical modules, and high-frequency copper clad laminate (CCL) has risen rapidly, driving steady growth in overall demand for copper foil used in circuits. The industry chain is simultaneously upgrading toward higher precision and density, further boosting demand for HVLP copper foil and pushing up processing fees. In response to market changes, SMM has added a quotation item for HVLP1 copper foil processing fees for CCL; on July 31, 2026, the processing fee for 35μm specifications is quoted at 50,000-60,000 yuan/mt, with an average of 55,000 yuan/mt; the 18μm specification is quoted at 58,000-68,000 yuan/mt, with an average of 63,000 yuan/mt. For details, please visit the SMM official website.

[SMM Analysis: Import and Export Market Analysis of China's Copper Foil Industry in H1 2026] According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China's cumulative copper foil exports in January–June 2026 were 39,700 mt, up 72.83% YoY; cumulative copper foil imports in January–June were 45,100 mt, up 12.17% YoY, with import growth significantly lower than export growth...