[SMM Analysis:The supply of copper raw materials falling short of expectations has led to the continuous depletion of the inventory of copper anode] This week, the General Administration of Customs announced the import data of copper concentrate in March. In March 2025, the import volume of copper concentrate was 2.394 million tons, an increase of 2.7% year-on-year. From January to March 2025, China's cumulative import of copper concentrate was 7.108 million tons. In addition, considering the domestic supply of copper concentrate from January to March, the import volume of copper anode from January to February, the expected import volume of copper anode in March, the import volume of copper scrap from January to February, and the expected import volume of copper scrap in March.

In April, frequent changes in tariff policies caused copper prices to fluctuate dramatically, resembling a roller coaster ride. So, how did the industry orders for enamelled wire perform? Were corporate orders affected by the changes in tariff policies? The SMM copper team conducted a survey of some enamelled wire companies, and the specific details are as follows:

According to SMM, the operating rate of Chinese copper anode producers in March 2025 was 56.17%, up 12.31 percentage points MoM. By raw material, the operating rate of copper anode producers using ore was 69.90%, down 8.44 percentage points MoM, while that of copper anode producers using scrap was 49.65%, up 20.50 percentage points MoM...