Operating rates at enameled wire producers rose to 76.63% in August

SHANGHAI, Sep 9 (SMM) — Operating rates at enameled wire producers increased on the month in August as orders rose significantly.  

Operating rates at enameled wire makers gained 1.24 percentage points from July and 6.59 percentage points from a year earlier to 76.63% in August, 1.37 percentage points higher than the expected 75.26%, according to an SMM survey of 34 producers with total capacity of 1.08 million mt.

Although July-September is a low season for enameled wires, operating rates still increased in August, as orders from industrial motors, electric tools and electric bikes rose significantly. Operating rates at large-scale producers just edged up 0.08 percentage point month on month to 78.32% in August as environmental inspections in Henan weighed on production at some local producers, while that at medium-scale producers gained 3.34 percentage points to 74.34%.    

Raw material inventory/monthly output ratio in the enameled wire industry stood at 11.42% in August, down 1.72 percentage points from July, SMM learned, as most of the producers were reluctant to stockpile too many feedstock due to high copper prices.

SMM expects operating rates at enameled wire producers to rise 0.66 percentage point to 77.29% in September. Orders from air-conditioner makers shrank as scheduled production of air-conditioners plunged 22.2% on the month to 8.97 million mt in September, but orders from the automobile sector increased sharply as some automakers returned to normal production after environmental inspections and some stockpiled ahead of the National Day holiday.