① Yunnan Copper's net income in H1 increased slightly due to the comprehensive impact of the rise in prices of nonferrous metals such as copper and the relocation of Southwest Copper. ② In the first half of the year, the relocation of Southwest Copper caused a loss of over 0.2 million tons of copper for the company.
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On August 29th, Cailian Press (Reporter Liang Xiangcai) reported that under the comprehensive impact of the rise in prices of nonferrous metals such as copper and the reduction of over 0.2 million tons of copper by Southwest Copper, Yunnan Copper (000878.SZ) achieved a slight increase in net income in H1.
Tonight, Yunnan Copper released its financial report for the first half of 2024, with a total operating revenue of 85.271 billion yuan in H1, an increase of 20.45% year-on-year; net income attributable to the parent company was 1.059 billion yuan, an increase of 4.87% year-on-year.
The overall strong running of copper and other nonferrous metals prices is one of the main reasons for the company's performance growth. In the first half of 2024, domestic copper prices showed an overall upward trend. In May, both domestic and international copper prices reached a historical high. The average spot contract price in the first half of the year was 74,531.75 yuan/ton, a year-on-year increase of 9.8% compared to the average price of 67,878.58 yuan/ton in the same period in 2023.
In terms of production, the announcement shows that in the first half of the year, Yunnan Copper produced 0.0317 million tons of copper concentrates, a year-on-year increase of 1.6%, produced 0.5087 million tons of cathode copper, a year-on-year decrease of 22.77%, produced 2.3734 million tons of sulfuric acid, a year-on-year decrease of 3.91%, produced 6.13 tons of gold, a year-on-year decrease of 37.42%, and produced 146.73 tons of silver, a year-on-year decrease of 63.46%. The main production targets were achieved.
It is worth noting that the relocation of Southwest Copper is one of the important reasons for the decline in cathode copper production in the first half of the year. The announcement shows that the company achieved an equity cathode copper production of 0.2865 million tons in the first half of the year, a decrease of 38.44% compared to the same period last year; among them, Southwest Copper's equity cathode copper production in the first half of this year was 0.0447 million tons, a decrease of 0.2128 million tons compared to the same period last year.
Screenshot Source: Yunnan Copper's 2024 semi-annual report.
According to the financial report, the electrolytic production system of the Southwest Copper relocation project has been successfully powered and entered the load testing phase. The overall progress of the project is about 84% complete. The pyrometallurgical plant, furnace brickwork, anode furnace installation, and top-blown furnace flue installation have all been completed. The flue construction is in progress, and the residual heat boiler piping installation is underway. Other sub-items are progressing normally.
It should be pointed out that Yunnan Copper announced at the end of December 2023 that, based on the preliminary calculations of the company, the estimated impact of the Southwest Copper relocation on the total production of the company's main product, cathode copper, in 2024 will not exceed 0.1 million tons, with a budgeted production volume of 1.28 million tons in 2023. The specific accounting treatment and the ultimate impact on the company's profit will be confirmed by the auditing amount of the accounting firm.
In July, Yunnan Copper announced that the electrolytic production system of the Southwest Copper relocation and upgrade project has been successfully powered and entered the load testing phase. At the end of last December, the company stated that the preliminary plan was to complete the electrolytic system and start production in May 2024, and to feed material into the pyrometallurgical system in August.
It is reported that Yunnan Copper's three smelters are Southwest Copper, Chifeng Yuncopper, and Southeast Copper. Among them, Southwest Copper has the largest capacity among the company's three smelters and has contributed more than half of the equity cathode copper production to the company in recent years.