Copper Price Rise Dampens Wire and Cable Orders; Operating Rate to Fall 1.5% WoW

Despite recent wild swings in the market, which have stirred some investor anxiety, top-tier players have not slowed their pace of expansion in computing power infrastructure. As US-listed AI giants report their mid-year financials, Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon have again raised their 2026 capex guidance. The combined full-year capex cap of the four giants is now expected to approach $750 billion, far exceeding last year's total of $455.8 billion.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "15th Five-Year Plan for Industrial Green and Low-Carbon Development," which emphasizes consolidating and upgrading green-advantage industries. It calls for accelerating technology iteration and scenario expansion in key industries such as NEVs, new energy equipment, and new-type energy storage. The plan promotes innovative applications of next-generation power batteries, automotive-grade chips, and vehicle operating systems, and the deployment of new energy heavy-duty trucks for long-haul, short- to medium-haul transport, urban construction logistics, as well as mining and port scenarios. It also significantly raises the share of green electricity used in polysilicon production, advances the design and manufacturing of high-reliability wind turbines for desert-Gobi-wasteland, high-altitude, and deep-sea scenarios, and promotes the application of wind-solar-storage integrated equipment based on local conditions.

This week, regarding inventories at China's wire and cable enterprises, raw material purchases remained cautious, with restocking conducted only on slight price corrections for essential needs. Raw material inventories fell 0.47% WoW. Facing weak demand in the off-season, wire and cable enterprises slowed their production pace, prioritizing the digestion of existing finished product inventories. Finished product inventories decreased 1.48% WoW.