SMM February 23 News:
This week, social inventories of secondary copper rods in various regions showed varying degrees of decline. According to secondary copper rod enterprises interviewed, before the Chinese New Year, due to the surge in copper prices, traders ordered a large quantity of secondary copper rods for post-holiday delivery. In contrast, end-user wire and cable enterprises placed relatively small orders. As a result, after the holiday, traders held a significant stockpile of secondary copper rods, while end-user wire and cable enterprises, discouraged by high post-holiday copper prices, were reluctant to restock. This week, with all workers returning to their posts and factories resuming normal production, it became necessary to replenish inventories. At the beginning of the week, the discount of secondary copper rods meeting national standards in Jiangxi against copper futures was only 200-300 yuan/mt, indicating limited supply in the market. Secondary copper rod enterprises actively sold at high prices, and traders also took the opportunity to sell in large quantities. By mid-week, the discount value remained at 500-600 yuan/mt, consistent with last week. However, after this round of restocking is completed, given the current limited new orders from wire and cable enterprises, it is expected that social inventories of secondary copper rods will gradually build up next week.
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