Copper Price Pullback Drives Order Growth, Operating Rate Rebounded This Week [SMM Wire and Cable Market Weekly Review]

This week (June 5–June 11), the SMM copper wire and cable enterprise operating rate recorded 71.03%, up 2.65 percentage points WoW and down 5.28 percentage points YoY. Falling copper prices this week effectively boosted end-user purchase willingness, and enterprises saw an increase in new orders, driving the operating rate to rebound. From the end-use demand perspective, orders in the power sector performed well, offshore wind power orders remained stable, and construction sector orders also showed marginal recovery. On the inventory side, some enterprises remained optimistic about the future copper price outlook and took the opportunity to restock during the price pullback, with raw material inventories rising 3.73% WoW; finished product inventories fell 2.95% WoW, mainly because the initial copper price decline spurred end-user cargo pick-up enthusiasm. Looking ahead to next week, as copper prices continued to decline toward the end of this week, end-user wait-and-see sentiment intensified, waiting for lower prices to enter the market, and order growth lacked sustainability. However, with new orders gradually entering the production schedule, overall operations will remain stable. SMM expects that next week (June 12–June 18) the copper wire and cable operating rate will continue to increase by 0.3 percentage points WoW to 71.33%, down 1.93 percentage points YoY.