Operating Rates of Copper Semis Producers to Decline Further in May

SHANGHAI, May 16 (SMM) - SMM believes that the operating rates of different copper semis sectors will change only slightly in May, with the average operating rate at 87.59% for the copper tube sector, 79.87% for the copper plate/sheet and strip sector, and 70.77% for the copper cathode rod sector. The average operating rate of the copper semis industry is expected to be 74.78%, down 0.37 percentage point MoM and up 6.83 percentage points YoY. The MoM decline will be caused by the poor downstream demand in May and the operation suspension during the Labour Day holiday, while the YoY growth will be contributed by the low base number last May.