The operating rates of copper rod plants using copper scrap were 40.94% between September 1 and September 7, a rise of 0.88 percentage point from a week ago, according to SMM survey of 15 plants with a capacity of 1.48 million mt/year).
The supply of copper scrap tightened as copper prices fell from highs. The average price spread between copper cathode and copper scrap shrank 93 yuan/mt to 1,348 yuan/mt, still profitable for copper scrap users. Available raw materials for copper rod plants using copper scrap tightened but raw material inventories still remained at safe levels.
High copper prices kept downstream buyers purchasing as needed, limiting new orders. Spot cargoes at some copper rod plants using copper scrap thus increased.
Next week, the supply of copper scrap will still become increasingly tight in view of the downside room for copper prices. Therefore, copper rod plants using copper scrap will face great difficulties in purchasing raw materials next week. New orders can hardly pick up remarkably as most of the downstream buyers have kept inventories low against high copper prices.
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