[SMM analysis] the operating rate of copper pipe enterprises in April was 84.42%.

SMM5, 14 March:

The operating rate of enterprises in April was 84.42%.

The operating rate of copper pipe enterprises in April was 84.42%, down 7.37 percentage points from a year earlier and up 8.7 percentage points from the previous month. In April, copper pipe enterprises basically returned to normal production, and the operating rate of large and medium-sized factories was nearly 90%, thus pulling up the overall level of the industry. According to SMM research, most copper tube enterprises said that the order situation is basically the same as in March, and is still actively producing to deal with the previous backlog of orders. Some companies said that due to the downturn in the home appliance industry, especially air conditioning industry exports were seriously damaged, resulting in a significant decline in the number of orders, forced to cut production. The operating rate of copper pipe enterprises is expected to be 82.66% in May, down 1.76 percentage points from the previous month and 8.27 percentage points from the same period last year. The operating rate of copper pipe companies will fall in May, mainly due to the off-season of traditional consumption in the air conditioning industry in May, and the overseas epidemic still restricts exports, and companies are worried that downstream consumption will worsen. (research enterprises: 19, production capacity: 2.15 million tons)

In April, the raw material inventory ratio of copper tube enterprises was 12.79%.

In April, the raw material inventory ratio of copper tube enterprises was 12.79%, down 2.25 percentage points from the previous month. Affected by the decline in household appliance production in April, nearly half of the copper pipe enterprises expect the number of orders to decline, and the absolute price of copper prices rose in April, and the willingness of copper pipe enterprises to stock up in advance has been significantly weakened, and most of them have been purchased on demand according to the order situation. Therefore, the raw material inventory ratio of copper pipe enterprises has been reduced in April compared with the previous month.

The operating rate of copper pipe enterprises is expected to be 82.66% in May.

According to the SMM survey, the copper pipe operation rate is expected to be 82.66% in May, down 1.76 percentage points from the previous month and 9.13 percentage points from the same period last year. Some copper tube companies reported lower-than-expected production in April, with the number of new orders falling from March and expected to fall further in May as exports of the air-conditioning sector continue to suffer damage, so the operating rate of copper tubes is expected to fall back in May.

(SMM Zhu Ruoxing)