Post-Holiday Demand Continues to Recover; March Copper Plate/Sheet and Strip Operating Expectations Improve

According to SMM, the operating rate of the copper plate/sheet and strip industry was 41.98% in February 2026, down 28.04 percentage points MoM and down 14.49 percentage points YoY. Among them, the operating rate of large enterprises was 47.35%, that of medium-sized enterprises was 35.28%, and that of small enterprises was 31.80%.

In February, affected by the Chinese New Year holiday, copper plate/sheet and strip enterprises had fewer actual production days, with limited capacity release. The operating rate showed a seasonal pullback, which was a normal performance during the Chinese New Year holiday period and was broadly in line with market expectations.

Inventory side, affected by the Chinese New Year holiday, copper plate/sheet and strip enterprises saw a significant drop in production during the month, leading to a passive increase in days of finished product inventories. In February, this indicator came in at 9.06 days. As enterprises accelerate resuming production and production gradually rebounds, days of inventories are expected to pull back significantly.

SMM expects the operating rate of the copper plate/sheet and strip industry to reach 74.28% in March, up 32.31 percentage points MoM and up 5.15 percentage points YoY. After the impact of the Chinese New Year holiday faded, the pace of work and production resumptions at copper plate/sheet and strip enterprises accelerated across the board. In addition, with production days returning to normal in March, enterprises significantly revised up their production schedule plans. According to SMM’s survey, the overall recovery of industry orders after the holiday was satisfactory, and the pullback in the center of copper prices at the beginning of the month effectively stimulated downstream purchase willingness. End-use demand from power, electronics, new energy, home appliances, and other sectors recovered in tandem. Most enterprises held optimistic expectations for post-holiday orders, with both orders and production schedules pointing to peak-season levels.