Tasmania Plans Tougher Laws to Combat Copper and Scrap Metal Theft

[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.

[SMM Brass Billet Express] As the Chinese New Year holiday ended, brass billet enterprises gradually resumed production, driving the industry's operating rate up 17.12 percentage points WoW to 17.12% during the week (2.20-2.26). However, the overall pace of production resumptions was slower than in previous years. Currently, only some medium and large-sized enterprises have started production, while many small and medium-sized enterprises remain idle or partially idle. Full production resumptions are expected only after the Lantern Festival.

[SMM Copper Wire and Cable Update] After the holiday, domestic wire and cable enterprises have resumed work gradually but have not yet reached full production. The recovery in end-use consumption has been relatively slow, and enterprises are currently focusing on fulfilling pre-holiday orders, with a clear divergence in order structure—orders from State Grid and other power sectors provide strong support, while orders in the construction and communication sectors remain weak. According to SMM, end-use demand is expected to be gradually released next week, and the industry's operating rate is projected to rebound to nearly 60%.