Operating Rate of Copper Cathode Rod Rebounds Sharply After Holiday Resumption and Restocking [SMM Copper Cathode Rod Weekly Review]

Published: Oct 16, 2026 14:17 (GMT+8)

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The operating rate of major copper cathode rod enterprises in China this week (October 9-October 15) was 73.27%, up 29.59 percentage points WoW and 2.49 percentage points above expectations. After the holiday, enterprise production gradually returned to normal, and with finished product inventories at low levels, concentrated restocking by enterprises drove a rapid rebound in operating rates. By downstream sector, production pace in end-use industries such as wire and cable and enamelled wire returned to normal simultaneously, with operating rates rebounding to varying degrees. On the inventory side, the pullback in copper prices this week triggered restocking demand from enterprises, with raw material inventory up 8.52 percentage points WoW; downstream cargo pick-up was active, and finished product inventory fell 3.4 percentage points WoW. Looking ahead to next week (October 16-October 22), during Thursday's copper price pullback, downstream enterprises showed significantly stronger willingness to fix prices, and new orders saw growth, providing some support for high operating rates. The operating rate of copper cathode rod enterprises next week is expected to pull back slightly by 1 percentage point WoW to 72.66%.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM's internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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