Pre-holiday stockpiling lifts wire and cable operating rates this week; holiday approaching, production expected to pull back next week [SMM Wire and Cable Market Weekly Review]

This week (September 18–September 24), the operating rate of SMM copper wire and cable enterprises recorded 69.77%, up 1.9 percentage points WoW and up 4.33 percentage points YoY. The rise in the operating rate this week was mainly supported by carryover orders from last week sustaining production schedules, along with some enterprises initiating light pre-holiday stockpiling. However, end-use demand remained constrained, as elevated copper prices continued to suppress downstream order releases, limiting further improvement in the operating rate. On the inventory side, with the holiday approaching, a few wire and cable enterprises carried out modest stockpiling, while most focused on locking in point-price orders in advance and picking up goods as needed during the holiday based on orders. Raw material inventories edged up 1.32% WoW. Meanwhile, some enterprises moderately built up finished product reserves to prepare for holiday shutdowns, driving days of finished product inventories up 1.28% WoW. Looking ahead to next week (September 25–October 1), affected by production schedule suspensions during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, SMM expects the operating rate of copper wire and cable enterprises to decline 10.52 percentage points WoW to 59.25%, up 0.72 percentage points YoY.