Copper rod producers operated at 81% in Jun

[SMM Analysis: High Copper Prices in October Constrained Copper Rod Demand, Will It Recover in November?] According to SMM statistics, national copper rod production in October was 984,600 mt, a decrease of 104,200 mt MoM, down 9.57%. Production of copper cathode rod recorded 838,100 mt, a decrease of 107,900 mt MoM, down 11.41%, dragging down the overall operating rate of the copper rod industry; production of secondary copper rod recorded 146,500 mt, an increase of 3,700 mt MoM, up 2.59%.

Operating rates of blast furnaces at Chinese steelmakers decreased sharply this week, as the transportation of raw materials in Hebei Province was affected by the pandemic, and some steel plants were forced to cut production.

Operating rates across lead-acid battery producers in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hebei provinces averaged 74.43% in the week ended December 11, unchanged week on week. 

Operating rates across primary lead smelters in Henan, Hunan and Yunnan provinces gained 1 percentage point from the previous week to 62.6%in the week ended December 4, showed an SMM survey.

Operating rates across lead-acid battery producers in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hebei provinces averaged 74.59% in the week ended October 30, up 2.28 percentage points from the previous week.

Operating rates of blast furnace at Chinese steelmakers held largely unchanged on the week as there was no new maintenance this week.

Operating rates across primary lead smelters in Henan, Hunan and Yunnan averaged 59.8% in the week ending December 20

The rate stood at 75.45% in Aug, up 0.36 percentage point from Jul but down 5.9 percentage points from Aug 2018

Discounts of secondary refined lead against the average price of SMM #1 lead stabilised this week

Operating rates averaged 58.5% in the week ended Aug 30, down 2.9 percentage points from the prior week