Wire and cable operating rates improved WoW this week, but end-use demand remained sluggish [SMM Wire and Cable Market Weekly Review]

This week (September 11–September 17), the operating rate of SMM copper wire and cable enterprises recorded 67.46%, up 3.75 percentage points WoW and up 1.62 percentage points YoY. At the start of the week, copper prices pulled back, and downstream enterprises generally remained cautious and on the sidelines, with a slower procurement pace. As copper prices subsequently rebounded slightly, downstream enterprises' willingness to restock was released, wire and cable orders received marginal support, and enterprises' production loads rose accordingly. On the inventory side, copper price fluctuations boosted enterprises' restocking enthusiasm, and coupled with a few wire and cable enterprises having pre-holiday stockpiling plans in advance, days of raw material inventories rose 2.6% WoW. Copper price fluctuations also stimulated a slight recovery in end-user clients' purchasing sentiment, and cargo pick-up at the terminal increased, driving days of finished product inventories down 1.85% WoW. Looking ahead to next week (September 18–September 24), some orders on hand will continue to be scheduled for production, and coupled with some enterprises having pre-holiday stockpiling plans, this will provide support for wire and cable enterprises' production. However, the current end-use market has yet to see a substantive demand recovery, so SMM expects the operating rate of copper wire and cable to rise 2.15 percentage points WoW to 69.61% next week, up 4.17 percentage points YoY.