SHANGHAI, Jun. 18 (SMM) – SMM undertook a survey of copper wire rod producers and found that most of them are neutral towards orders in June.

75% believe orders should remain steady in June as demand for copper wire rod from electric wire and cable producers will not weaken. Besides, copper rod consumption is not very strong, with electric wire and cable, automobile wire and railway wire consumption stable.

20% producers believe orders should slide slightly in June. Their major end-users are enameled wire producers. The enameled wire industry will encounter low demand season in June due to sluggish home appliance consumption and soft demand for large machinery. As the price spread between scrap copper and refined copper widened, demand for copper rod produced with scrap copper improved, and this will affect copper rod produced with refined copper.

The remaining 5% believe orders will increase slightly in June. Their end-users electric wire and cable producers’ demand for copper rod will grow during June and August. As domestic copper prices are expected to remain strong and since spot premiums are expected to rise, downstream buyers will enter the market.