Copper Cathode Rod Operating Rate Slumps in February Due to Chinese New Year Holiday

The operating rate for copper cathode rod enterprises is expected to be 50.15% in February.
Looking ahead to February, the operating rate for copper cathode rod is projected to decrease by 15.49 percentage points MoM to 50.15%, down 5.69 percentage points YoY. The significant decline in the operating rate in February is mainly due to the impact of the Chinese New Year holiday. According to SMM, copper cathode rod enterprises generally observe a holiday period of 15-17 days, covering more than half of the month, which directly leads to a MoM pullback in production. Additionally, enterprises hold weak expectations for post-holiday orders, and the market's subsequent trend will still need to closely monitor the performance of copper prices.

In January, the operating rate for copper cathode rod enterprises was 65.64%, down 3.96 percentage points MoM and down 11.27 percentage points YoY (the operating rate in January last year was 56.74%).

Looking back at January, the copper cathode rod market overall exhibited a pattern of first declining then rising, with characteristics of phased divergence. In the first half of the month, affected by disruptions from the New Year holiday and coupled with copper prices fluctuating at highs, downstream enterprises struggled to secure orders, leading to weak overall industry operations. During the second half of the month, as copper prices retreated, previously suppressed downstream orders due to high prices were concentratedly released, prompting copper cathode rod enterprises to accelerate the destocking of finished product inventories. Subsequently, when copper prices hit the lower limit, daily orders surged by multiples, providing strong support for pre-holiday stockpiling production. In terms of specific consumption, orders across various downstream consumption sectors generally recovered MoM, with the enamelled wire sector performing particularly strongly, showing outstanding order increments and providing stable support for the operating rates of copper cathode rod enterprises.

In January, the days of raw material inventories at copper cathode rod enterprises were 2.02 days, and the days of finished product inventories were 4.85 days.

At month-end, the market entered the peak stockpiling season ahead of the Chinese New Year. Stockpiling demand drove up the operating willingness of copper cathode rod enterprises, and the production pace steadily accelerated. The days of raw material inventories increased by 0.5 day MoM, while finished product inventories saw a slight buildup following the production progress, with the days of finished product inventories rising by 0.1 day MoM.

The operating rate for copper cathode rod enterprises is expected to be 50.15% in February.
Looking ahead to February, the operating rate for copper cathode rod is projected to decrease by 15.49 percentage points MoM to 50.15%, down 5.69 percentage points YoY. The significant decline in the operating rate in February is mainly due to the impact of the Chinese New Year holiday. According to SMM, copper cathode rod enterprises generally observe a holiday period of 15-17 days, covering more than half of the month, which directly leads to a MoM pullback in production. Additionally, enterprises hold weak expectations for post-holiday orders, and the market's subsequent trend will still need to closely monitor the performance of copper prices.