July 4, 2019 LME basic Metals inventory

According to SMM, prices of petroleum-based basic chemical raw materials such as styrene and propylene have risen sharply recently, significantly driving up the costs of engineering plastics for home appliances such as PP and ABS. Coupled with shrinking demand from the Middle East, air-conditioner manufacturers' willingness to stockpile and produce has weakened markedly, and softer demand from the home appliance sector has directly dragged down overall demand for enamelled wire.

This week (March 20–March 26), the operating rate of machines in China’s enamelled wire industry pulled back 0.2 percentage points MoM to 88.73%. Affected by weakening home appliance demand and fluctuations in copper prices, new orders this week pulled back 11.19 percentage points MoM, downstream pick-up of goods slowed down, finished product inventories edged up to 7.47 days, and enterprises were generally concerned about the order outlook for April.

[SMM Brass Billet Flash News] This week (3.20-3.26), the operating rate of China’s brass billet industry came in at 54.39, up slightly by 0.26 percentage points WoW. The industry as a whole maintained a mild trend, while downstream orders showed divergence. Demand in the refrigeration valve fittings segment remained steady and improved, becoming the core driver supporting enterprises’ production schedules. Orders in traditional general-use segments such as hardware and plumbing were relatively stable, and enterprises mainly focused on executing previous contracts, with a relatively cautious pace in taking new orders.