Tariffs and Supply Deficits Keep Copper Prices Bid

[SMM Brass Bar Update] The current brass bar market is in a phase of "high costs, low demand, and weak expectations." In the short term, as small and medium-sized enterprises gradually resume operations after the Lantern Festival, the operating rate is expected to slowly rebound. However, before copper prices show a significant pullback and end-use demand recovers substantially, the overall industry recovery still faces considerable pressure.

[SMM Brass Bar Express] Currently, enterprises have low stockpiling sentiment, mostly consuming pre-holiday inventory, while downstream production resumptions are also slow, with limited new orders, and the overall market performance is cautious. SMM expects that the operating rate will increase by 24.06 percentage points to 41.18% WoW next week (2.27-3.5), but it has not yet recovered to pre-holiday production levels, and subsequent attention should be paid to the recovery of downstream demand.