Copper prices have broken through CNY 110,000, copper foil processing fees continue to rise, and Ningde Shidai is making early arrangements for 400,000 tons of new capacity.
Profits of copper foil companies are rebounding significantly.
On the evening of October 14, Jiayuan Technology and Defu Technology successively released their performance forecasts for the first three quarters of 2026.
Jiayuan Technology expects its net profit excluding non-recurring items for the first three quarters to increase by 3065.71%—3329.52% year-on-year; Defu Technology expects a growth of 1478.59%—1635.45%. The net profits excluding non-recurring items of both leading copper foil companies have achieved more than tenfold growth.
In terms of net profit attributable to the parent company, Jiayuan Technology expects a profit of CNY 530 million to CNY 580 million, a year-on-year increase of 1196.60%—1318.92%; Defu Technology expects a profit of CNY 440 million to CNY 480 million, a year-on-year increase of 560.72%—620.78%.
Both companies listed the growth in production and sales volume, the improvement in capacity utilization rate, and the increase in the proportion of high value-added products as important reasons for performance growth. Defu Technology also explicitly pointed out that product structure optimization has driven up the company's average processing fee.
Meanwhile, price changes in the copper foil market continue.
From July 20 to October 12, the processing fee for 6μm lithium battery copper foil accumulated an increase of CNY 3,500 per ton, a rise of about 17%. Upstream copper prices are also at high levels, with the main Shanghai copper futures contract closing at CNY 111,080 per ton on October 14.
With corporate profits, copper foil processing fees, and capacity utilization rates improving simultaneously, leading battery manufacturers have also begun to lock in upstream supply in advance.
01 Two Leading Companies, Third-Quarter Profits Accelerate Anew
The 3300% increase is particularly striking, but the improvement in profitability of copper foil companies started long ago.
In the first quarter of this year, the net profit excluding non-recurring items of Jiayuan Technology and Defu Technology reached CNY 109 million and CNY 149 million respectively, representing year-on-year increases of 1208% and 2424% respectively.
Entering the second quarter, the net profit excluding non-recurring items of both companies saw a sequential decline, but the overall first half still maintained substantial growth.
By the third quarter, the net profit excluding non-recurring items of both companies accelerated again on a sequential basis, and both are expected to exceed the first-quarter levels.
Jiayuan Technology's net profit attributable to the parent company for the third quarter is expected to be CNY 148 million to CNY 198 million, a sequential decrease, but its net profit excluding non-recurring items has significantly increased.
This difference is mainly related to the large-scale non-recurring gains in the first half of the year. Items such as gains from changes in fair value and investment income in the first half of the year made a significant contribution to the net profit attributable to the parent company for Jiayuan Technology.
In addition, the low profit base in the same period last year also amplified this year's year-on-year increase. In the first three quarters of 2025, Jiayuan Technology's net profit excluding non-recurring items was only CNY 11.3719 million, and Defu Technology's was CNY 25.3391 million.
02 Copper Prices Stand at CNY 110,000, Processing Fees Rise by CNY 3,500 in Three Months
While corporate profits grow, copper foil processing fees continue to rise.
Data shows that from July 20 to October 12, the national average processing fee for6μm lithium battery copper foil rose from CNY 20,500 per ton to CNY 24,000 per ton, an accumulated increase of CNY 3,500 per ton, a rise of about 17.1%.
During the same period, the processing fee for 4.5μm lithium battery copper foil increased from CNY 27,000 per ton to CNY 29,500 per ton, an increase of CNY 2,500 per ton.
Electronic circuit copper foil is also seeing price increases. The processing fee for 18μm HTE copper foil rose from CNY 23,000 per ton to CNY 26,500 per ton during the same period, an increase of about 15.2%.
This round of processing fee increases echoes the continuous improvement in the capacity utilization rate of the copper foil industry.
GGII previously pointed out that in 2025, the capacity utilization rate of China's electrolytic copper foil industry was about 65%—70%. Since the fourth quarter of last year, the capacity utilization rate of the top 8 copper foil companies has exceeded 90%.
In the first half of this year, the capacity utilization rate of the entire industry increased to 82%—86%, with the top eight companies reaching about 95%.
GGII expects that in the second half of the year, the capacity utilization rate of the entire industry is expected to further reach 90%—95%.
From a capacity utilization rate of less than 70% for the entire industry in 2025 to over 80% in the first half of this year, leading copper foil companies have taken the lead in entering a high-load production state.
The increase in capacity utilization rate comes, on the one hand, from the growth in demand for lithium battery and electronic circuit copper foil, and on the other hand, is also related to the relatively cautious capacity expansion in the industry previously.
For copper foil companies, the expansion of production and sales volume can dilute unit fixed costs such as equipment depreciation and labor. Coupled with the increase in processing fees, this further improves profitability.
This is also the change jointly emphasized by Jiayuan Technology and Defu Technology in this performance forecast.
However, there is another factor worth paying attention to in recent copper foil price changes—copper prices.
On October 14, the main Shanghai copper futures contract closed at CNY 111,080 per ton, still in a historically high range.
Copper foil companies generally adopt a pricing method of "copper price + processing fee".
Rising copper prices will simultaneously push up raw material procurement costs and copper foil sales prices; rising processing fees more directly affect the company's unit processing revenue.
In September, Defu Technology stated that the company has established a raw material price hedging mechanism, controlling risks through hedging. Overall, the impact of copper price fluctuations on operating performance and profitability is controllable.
Jiayuan Technology also pointed out in performance exchanges that copper price fluctuations will affect production costs and gross profit margins. The company transmits raw material price changes downstream through the "copper price + processing fee" pricing model.
High copper prices will also increase the occupation of procurement funds for enterprises, testing their capabilities in raw material management, price fixing, and inventory control.
The current improvement in profits of copper foil companies is still more directly supported by the increase in processing fees, the improvement in capacity utilization rate, and the growth in shipments of high value-added products.
03 AI Copper Foil Accelerates Volume Growth, Ningde Shidai to Co-build 400,000 Tons in Three Years
The demand structure of the copper foil market is also changing.
On the one hand, the demand base for power and energy storage batteries continues to grow, continuously driving the shipment of lithium battery copper foil.
GGII expects that in 2026, the year-on-year growth rate of China's lithium battery copper foil shipments is expected to exceed 45%.
On the other hand, AI servers are driving the growth in demand for high-end electronic circuit copper foil.
As high-speed PCBs upgrade to higher transmission rates and lower signal loss, the demand for products such as RTF (Reverse Treated Foil) and HVLP (Hyper Very Low Profile Foil) is increasing.
Defu Technology has already seen a significant increase in shipments.
On September 9, the company disclosed that in August, the shipment volume of HVLP series copper foil was about 500 tons, of which HVLP4 was about 70 tons.
On October 8, Defu Technology further disclosed that in September, the shipment of HVLP series copper foil reached 699.7 tons, of which HVLP4 reached 187 tons.
Within a month, the shipment of the HVLP series grew by about 40%, and the shipment of HVLP4 more than doubled.
Jiayuan Technology is also advancing the layout of high-end electronic copper foil.
At the end of September, the company disclosed that RTF1 copper foil has achieved small-batch shipments, and HVLP1, HVLP2, and HVLP3 products have entered the customer sampling and testing stage. The related business has not yet had a significant impact on the company's operating performance.
The growth of high-end electronic copper foil may also further affect the effective supply of lithium battery copper foil.
GGII previously pointed out that the reference value for the processing fee of ordinary lithium battery copper foil is about CNY 25,000 per ton, the RTF series is about CNY 35,000 per ton, and the HVLP series reaches about CNY 125,000 per ton.
Although high-end electronic copper foil has higher requirements for equipment, processes, and yield rates, and the output capacity of unit production lines also varies, some high-end products still have a clear advantage in processing revenue.
For companies that layout both lithium battery copper foil and electronic copper foil simultaneously, the increase in orders for high-end products may drive some compatible capacity to tilt towards electronic copper foil.
GGII expects that in 2026, China's electronic circuit copper foil shipments will increase by more than 20% year-on-year. The growth in demand for electronic copper foil and the acceleration of domestic substitution will further affect the capacity allocation of copper foil companies.
However, there are thresholds for equipment, processes, and customer certification among different copper foil products, and the actual scale of production transfer remains to be seen.
In the context of demand growth and rising processing fees, downstream battery manufacturers have also begun to strengthen their advance layout of copper foil capacity.
On September 6, Ningde Shidai announced that it has reached strategic cooperation with enterprises such as Taijin Xinneng and Shenzhen Huike, and plans to jointly build 400,000 tons of new copper foil capacity with two partners including Shenzhen Huike in the next three years.
The cooperation involves multiple links such as centralized procurement of copper foil equipment, co-construction of capacity, cost pricing, and joint research and development.
In terms of the pricing mechanism, all parties proposed to establish a long-term supply volume and reasonable processing fee locking mechanism for new capacity in accordance with the principles of "cost plus, reasonable profit, and risk sharing".
Ningde Shidai will also support the construction of the supply side through advance payments, account period optimization, and other methods.
Previously, Jiayuan Technology signed a cooperation framework agreement with Ningde Shidai in November 2025, agreeing to prioritize the needs of Ningde Shidai from 2026 to 2028 according to an estimated total capacity of no less than 626,000 tons.
Among them, the estimated capacities corresponding to 2026, 2027, and 2028 are 157,000 tons, 204,000 tons, and 265,000 tons respectively. The specific procurement scale still needs to be subject to subsequent orders.
From long-term supply agreements to direct participation in the construction of new capacity, Ningde Shidai is further extending the guarantee of copper foil supply to the upstream production links.
The actual release of new capacity still needs to go through project construction, equipment debugging, customer certification, and capacity ramp-up.
In July this year, GGII estimated that in 2026, the total annual capacity of domestic electrolytic copper foil will be about 2.4 million to 2.5 million tons, continuing to grow from 2.1 million to 2.2 million tons in 2025, but the release of effective new capacity is relatively cautious.
Now, Ningde Shidai, together with suppliers, has proposed to build 400,000 tons of new capacity in the next three years, adding new planning for the subsequent supply of copper foil.
On the one hand, copper foil companies are improving their capacity utilization rates, seeing rising processing fees, and rapidly repairing profits; on the other hand, leading battery manufacturers have already begun to make advance arrangements for copper foil supply in the coming years through advance payments, long-term volume locking, and capacity co-construction.
From current processing fee negotiations to the construction and allocation of future capacity, the supply and demand changes in the copper foil industry are further affecting the cooperation methods of upstream and downstream enterprises.