NINE large copper producers in China have agreed an initial plan to cut refined metal production by more than 200,000 tons in 2016 or around 5 percent from this year’s level, an executive at one of the producers said Saturday.

    China is the top refined copper producer and consumer but is suffering an economic slowdown adding pressure on the global market.

    The nine producers also will ask the State-controlled industry body, the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA), to request the Central Government to investigate high-speed trading and malicious short selling of copper contracts traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the executive said.

    The producers made the initial plan in the morning. In an afternoon meeting, they further agreed that the companies would consider bigger output cuts and would finalize the amounts this week, said the executive.

    He was speaking on condition of anonymity but on behalf of the China Smelters Purchase Team (CSPT) group.

    The nine copper producers involved in the planned cut are members of the CSPT and include Jiangxi Copper Company Ltd. and Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group.

    Their production accounted for about 60 percent of China’s refined copper production in the first 10 months of this year.

    “We prepare to cut production by at least 200,000 tons,” the executive told Reuters, adding that the cut could be expanded if copper prices fell further.

    The companies will produce about 4.4-4.5 million tons of refined copper this year, he added. The proposed cut is equal to about a third of China’s production in October.

    The producers would mainly cut output that uses scrap as feedstock, the executive said. The firms also use copper concentrates as feedstock.

    “We are very serious about cutting production. We will have a meeting every two weeks to follow up proposed cuts by each company,” he said.(SD-Agencies)