Copper is widely used in electronic industry, electric appliance industry, construction industry, transportation industry and machinery manufacturing industry because of its excellent conductivity, heat conductivity and ductility. The stage of national economic development is closely related to the demand and structure of copper products. Over the past 100 years, with the deepening of industrialization and the advent of electrification, copper demand is also increasing. In recent years, with the complexity of products and electronic, the demand for copper, especially copper foil is increasing. Global Copper consumption is mainly concentrated in power equipment, construction, transportation, household appliances and other fields. In terms of consumption structure, electrical equipment accounted for 31 per cent, construction property for 30 per cent, infrastructure for 15 per cent and transport and other industrial needs for 12 per cent.

Since entering the new century, China’s copper processing industry has undergone earth-shaking changes, has gradually completed the transformation to modern copper processing materials. At present, China’s copper processing materials about 250 kinds of alloy, nearly 1000 varieties of products, is one of the world’s most abundant products. The main copper products include copper rod and wire, copper tube, copper strip, copper bar and copper foil. The proportion of copper rod and wire is the largest, about 53% , the proportion of copper tube, copper strip and copper bar is the same, about 12%-13% , and the proportion of copper foil is the smallest, only 2% . In 2020, domestic copper production was 20.455 million tons, up 2.7 percent year on year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China. The top 10 provinces are Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Anhui, Shandong, Gansu, Henan, Hunan and Hubei, with 18.399 million tons of copper production, accounting for 89.9 percent of the total, jiangxi Province, which ranked first, produced 3.848 million tons of copper products, up 4.7 percent year-on-year. Problems of copper processing industry in China

The innovation ability is not strong, the enterprise competitive ability is poor our country many copper processing enterprises, the technical equipment level is low, the output scale is small, the product technical content is low. Compared with the development trend of large-scale, precision and automatic control in copper production in the world, there is still a big gap between China’s copper production enterprises and developed countries. ESPECIALLY IN R & D funds, the overall innovation capacity is weak, the core technology R & D of Independent Intellectual Property Rights is particularly obvious. Compared with the international advanced level, the technology of melting, casting and rolling of copper products in our country is still relatively backward, and there is hardly advanced technology and equipment, which can not cope with the increasingly fierce international competition. The copper processing industry is a technology-intensive industry. With years of technology accumulation and specialized talents, the strong copper countries can realize specialization, scale and automatic production, that allowed copper production not only to be refined, but also to be mass production. However, compared with the strong copper country, China does not have an innovative technological atmosphere, nor can it achieve specialization and large-scale production, the products produced do not have a strong international competitiveness. In short, the overall strength of China’s copper processing industry is still far from the international advanced level, and the competitiveness of China’s copper processing industry needs to be constantly improved.

The strategy of high-quality development of copper processing industry in China suggests tapping the potential of copper resources, strengthening international cooperation in prospecting for ores, and according to the China Mineral Resources Report 2021 issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources, 27.013 million tons of copper resources will be found in the country in 2020, the top five were 7.36 million tons in Tibet, 6.251 million tons in Jiangxi, 3.613 million tons in Yunnan, 2.026 million tons in Gansu and 1.569 million tons in Xinjiang. Compared with the global copper resources, China’s copper resources are relatively scarce, and can not fully meet the needs of domestic economic development. First of all, we should explore the vast areas, search for copper resources, gradually increase the development of domestic copper resources, continuously tap the potential of domestic copper resources, to achieve stable development of domestic copper processing industry. Secondly, it is necessary to strengthen international cooperation in mine exploration and development, broaden foreign horizons, and actively seek external copper resources. Strengthening the development of copper deposits in the western region of China and further searching for new copper resources. There are abundant copper resources in the west of China, which need to be exploited by the mining workers. Implementing the strategy of “Going out”for copper resources and strengthening the prospecting and exploration work abroad. The domestic copper resources need to be further exploited, and at the same time, the overseas copper resources should be developed and utilized. For example, the Organization of transnational groups or foreign investment in the establishment of stable and efficient operation of mining plants, such as copper resources in African countries, such as Zambia, South Africa, investment in the construction of plants, copper mining, processing and mineral processing, and so on; We will actively cooperate with other countries, strengthen trade exchanges and establish trade relations, change the single situation of copper mine imports, continuously expand the sources of copper mine imports, and import copper products in various forms. It will not only reduce the dependence on single country’s copper imports, but also help to meet the increasing demand for copper resources and solve the shortage of copper resources in China.

The practice in developed countries abroad shows that the establishment of large enterprise groups has many advantages, such as being conducive to the research and development of new technologies and new products, and to reducing the production costs of enterprises, it is conducive to the rational allocation of resources and talents, especially conducive to market development and competition. At present, there are more than 1400 copper production enterprises in China, and the output of copper products ranks second in the world. However, China’s copper processing industry is only in a big but not strong position. In the market competition, there is only competition, not union, the sustainable and healthy development of copper processing industry can not be guaranteed. In the face of the continuous expansion of the scale of copper enterprises in copper-rich countries, as well as the trend of increasing production with a high degree of concentration and modernization, through mergers, reorganizations, acquisitions, investment, forming strategic alliances and other means to form large or super-large enterprise groups and multinational groups, and have entered the Chinese market, and China’s copper processing industry competition. We must wake up to the fact that the establishment of large enterprise groups is a key step to change the current situation and realize large and powerful, and is also the basic trend of the development of modern industry. It is the only way for the development of copper processing enterprises in China to reorganize, Transform, reorganize, combine and establish large copper processing group. Famous brand strategy is the key factor to ensure success in market competition. Especially when the overall competitive strength of China’s copper processing industry is weaker than that of the strong copper industry, we should cultivate famous-brand products, improve product quality and give full play to the advantages of human resources, it is particularly important to compete in the domestic and international markets with low-cost and high-quality brand-name products. Therefore, it is an important trend of copper processing industry in the world to carry out the strategy of collectivization and famous brands. China should adapt to the development of modern industry quickly, cultivate its own brand, and make its own brand well-known so as to gain a foothold in the international market.

The large-scale and specialized production of large-scale and large-scale enterprises can improve production efficiency and generate economies of scale. Most foreign copper enterprises have achieved large-scale production and scale, new copper strip processing enterprises are about 200,000-500,000 tons, large-scale in about 700,000-800,000 tons. However, most of the enterprises in our country are small and the annual output of large enterprises is only about 100,000 tons. Therefore, in order to enhance the competitiveness of China’s copper enterprises, the production of large-scale development. In addition, the production and processing of copper is a technology-intensive industry, the quality of products is closely related to the technology and equipment used, and specialized production can enable enterprises to concentrate on improving the quality of copper, in order to expand the scale of production, the use of advanced applicable technology, thereby improving product quality and stability, but also can effectively reduce costs. In order for enterprises to better concentrate financial, material and human resources, so that their products, equipment, resources, talents and capital, etc. Can be optimized to a greater extent and form local advantages in professional products, so that its technical and economic indicators and competitiveness have been significantly improved, the need for specialized production. At the same time, the global market competition forces enterprises to continue to innovate, and continue to produce high-quality and low-cost, variety and variety of products, which can only be done by specialized production. At present, due to the general pursuit of large and incomplete development of copper enterprises in China, there are few high-level enterprises with real specialization, which is one of the reasons why it is difficult for China’s copper enterprises to compete with foreign advanced enterprises. Therefore, in order to make the development of copper enterprises in China go into a virtuous circle, it is necessary to develop the production specialization, to create the production characteristics and to change the current situation of single and identical production

Expanding product variety and improving quality, increasing effective supply of copper as the main supporting material of pillar industry, its development should be in line with the development of pillar industry and high-tech industry. At present, China’s copper processing industry is mainly to produce low-grade copper, the current technology can not produce a lot of high-performance, high-precision copper, so China’s high-grade copper mainly to import. Modern Industry puts forward higher requirements for copper products, and the demand for high precision, high performance and high reliability copper products is getting higher and higher. In order to meet the requirements and face the increasingly fierce international market, China’s copper processing industry in the future will focus on expanding product varieties and improving product quality, to provide high-precision and high-performance copper products to electronics, communications, automobiles and other industries, the main products, such as Copper Strip for water tank, copper strip for transformer, electrolytic copper foil and super long condenser tube, are mainly developed. In addition, the Copper Strip of ultra-thin water tank needed by the automobile industry, the high heat dissipation air conditioning pipe needed by the air conditioning industry, and the ultra-long condensing pipe needed by the electric power industry are also in short supply and have the potential for further development. China’s copper processing industry should speed up technological innovation and continuously adjust its industrial structure. In addition to maintaining stable development in traditional fields, it should actively cooperate with new energy and new material industries to develop new copper products, continuously improve the added value of products, seize the high-end copper market. Therefore, China’s copper processing industry should make breakthroughs in technology, increase input in scientific research, tackle key technical problems, overcome technical difficulties, introduce advanced production and processing lathes and processes from abroad, improve the quality of products and increase the variety of products, more sophisticated production of new copper to meet the domestic and international demand for high-grade copper.

To optimize the industrial structure and widen the copper industrial chain, China should strengthen the exchange and cooperation with the other countries in the world and learn from the international advanced experience and technology so as to enhance the scientific and technological level of copper processing industry in China. In processing technology, we should change the original backward mode of production, improve the technical content and added value of copper, promote the development of copper to high-precision end direction, and continuously broaden the copper industry chain. China should also focus on research and development of high-end composite materials, information and communication materials, hydraulic sensing materials, aerospace materials and other equipment needed for economic development, and continuously improve and optimize the copper industrial structure, improving the international competitiveness of copper processing industry. In addition, it is necessary to expand the copper industrial chain and reduce the number of enterprises of the same type in the industrial chain by means of horizontal integration of the industrial chain, so as to keep all types of enterprises within a reasonable range according to the actual situation, to raise the Concentration ratio. Through the horizontal integration of the industrial chain, resources can be better deployed, expand market share, improve the competitiveness of enterprises, so as to obtain more profits. At present, there are still a large number of small copper enterprises in China, which should develop toward specialization. What is more important is to build leading copper enterprises in the industrial chain through mergers and acquisitions, joint investment and other forms, with emphasis on building large copper enterprises or groups, and constantly improve the occupancy rate and profitability of copper enterprises. Small enterprises in the upper and lower reaches of the copper processing industrial chain should adapt to local conditions, adapt to the international situation, change the original large and complete development model, and develop in the direction of small and refined specialization. Small enterprises may form strategic alliances through mergers and reorganizations and carry out intensive management, thus changing the current situation of single industrial product variety, excessive or even vicious competition within industries, so that China’s copper processing industry to form a benign development situation.

 Source: The web