High Prices Weigh on Demand, Operating Rates of Brass Billet Producers Decline; Next Week Watch for Copper Price Pullback to Bring Order Changes [SMM Brass Billet Market Weekly Review]

This week (9.4-9.10), the operating rate of SMM brass billet sample enterprises was 47.46%, down 1.03 percentage points WoW. During the week, copper prices rose, and high-priced raw materials suppressed the release of downstream orders. End-user wait-and-see sentiment was strong, downstream order follow-up was weak, and enterprise operating rates pulled back. On the raw material side, secondary brass supply remained tight, raw material prices stayed high, and processing profits of brass billet enterprises continued to be squeezed. This week, sample enterprises' days of raw material inventories stood at 3.5 days, with inventory levels staying low, and enterprises mainly purchasing as needed. On the demand side, under the suppression of high prices, downstream users only made just-in-time procurement, with insufficient willingness to actively restock, and destocking pressure on finished product inventories persisted. This week, sample enterprises' days of finished product inventories stood at 5.27 days. Looking ahead to next week (9.11-9.17), SMM expects the enterprise operating rate to be 46.88%, down another 0.58 percentage points WoW. However, copper prices fell this Friday, stimulating a small number of orders, and continued tracking of copper price fluctuations is still needed going forward.