This week's operating rate of copper wire and cable producers held steady, with copper price corrections bringing incremental orders [SMM Wire and Cable Market Weekly Review]

      This week (January 30-February 5), the operating rate of SMM copper wire and cable enterprises was 60.15%, up 0.69 percentage points MoM. At the beginning of the week, when copper prices hit the lower limit, the overall pickup volume in the end-use industry showed improvement, and new orders also increased. Enterprises scheduled production based on orders, supporting stable subsequent production. Specifically, previously awarded State Grid orders continued to be implemented, and equipment cable orders grew concurrently, providing the main source of orders for the industry. It is worth noting that there are significant regional differences in the wire and cable industry. East China maintained a normal production pace, while North and South China experienced weaker overall demand due to early holidays at downstream enterprises. In terms of inventory, during the period of copper price correction, enterprises completed centralized restocking. However, affected by wild swings in copper prices, enterprises still maintained a cautious procurement strategy, mainly making just-in-time procurements in batches. This week, raw material inventory increased 1.83% MoM, reaching 13,355 mt; finished product inventories, however, decreased 2.05% MoM with the increase in orders, recording 17,720 mt. Looking ahead to next week, the increase in this week's orders will provide some support for next week's operations. However, as some enterprises will officially enter the Chinese New Year holiday later next week, SMM expects the operating rate of copper wire and cable enterprises to decrease 2.57 percentage points MoM to 57.57% (February 6-February 12).