Copper scrap supply increased slightly, but the operating rates of copper rod plants using copper scrap fell again

The operating rates of copper rod plants using copper scrap were 40.07% between August 25 and August 31, a drop of 3.61 percentage points from a week earlier, according to SMM survey of 15 plants with a capacity of 1.48 million mt/year). One copper rod plant in the sample that mainly produces T2 copper rods reported severe losses against the current price spread between copper cathode and copper scrap and thus suspended production. Except for this sample, the operating rates of other copper rod plants using copper scrap as raw material rebounded slightly.

On the supply side, the supply tightness of copper scrap eased. The average price spread between copper cathode and copper scrap stood at 1,348 yuan/mt, profitable for copper scrap users. The raw material inventory of most copper rod plants using copper scrap stood at the safe level.

Downstream buyers lacked purchasing interest against high copper prices, and most of the trades occurred among traders. Spot supply of copper rod produced with copper scrap increased, and some of the plants had some inventories on hand.