The average operating rate of key copper rod producers using copper cathode was around 70.39% last week, a drop of 0.06 percentage point from the previous week. As spot premiums in Shanghai exceeded 500 yuan/mt, copper rod enterprises were very cautious in purchasing raw materials.
In order to reduce the losses caused by high spot premiums, copper rod plants delayed deliveries as much as possible. On the whole, the consumption of copper rods produced with copper cathode continued to cool down last week with few new orders.
Finished product inventory was slightly higher than the normal level due to the reduction in shipments. Many medium-sized companies said that if the inventory continues to increase, they will stop production during the Dragon Boat Festival holidays.
