Enameled Wire Industry Operating Rate Continues to Decline in August; Multiple Uncertainties Cloud September Market

       According to SMM, the comprehensive operating rate of the enameled wire industry in August 2026 stood at 67.95%, down 2.02 percentage points month-on-month but up 1.4 percentage points year-on-year. Among them, the operating rate of large-sized enterprises was 71.87%, that of medium-sized enterprises was 56.95%, and that of small-sized enterprises was 67.38%.

       The enameled wire industry remained in its traditional off-season demand period in August. With the center of copper prices continuing to rise and briefly breaching the 110,000 yuan/mt threshold, downstream procurement willingness cooled noticeably. The combination of weak off-season demand and high-priced raw materials resulted in a more-than-expected decline in the industry's operating rate. Meanwhile, the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region was hit by typhoon weather, with some downstream enterprises implementing phased production cuts and suspensions, further weighing on actual enameled wire demand. Although emerging sectors continued to provide a certain level of rigid demand support, this was insufficient to offset the multiple headwinds from weakening traditional end-user demand, elevated copper prices, and adverse weather conditions, resulting in an overall weak order performance.

       From an inventory perspective, enameled wire enterprises are currently still under certain sales-side pressure, with finished goods inventory levels remaining elevated at month-end. Data showed that finished goods inventory days of enameled wire enterprises in August stood at 12.09 days, up 0.5 days month-on-month.

       SMM forecasts that the comprehensive operating rate of the enameled wire industry in September will be 67.89%, down 0.06 percentage points month-on-month and down 0.23 percentage points year-on-year. Industry enterprises' expectations for September show clear divergence: some enterprises are optimistic about traditional end-user sectors gradually entering the peak season and anticipate a possible modest recovery in demand; however, quite a few enterprises reported that current order performance remains sluggish and maintain a relatively bearish outlook on the market going forward. From the current market environment perspective, the industry still harbors multiple concerns regarding September trends: on one hand, copper prices remain elevated, and the home appliance industry—an important end-user sector for enameled wire—has yet to show clear signs of seasonal recovery, leaving demand-side uncertainties and raising concerns about the overall strength of September's recovery; on the other hand, September sees the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday eating into production hours, while the National Day holiday falls at the end of the month, and copper price trends will directly affect downstream pre-holiday restocking sentiment. Considering these multiple factors, the industry's operating rate is expected to decline modestly.