Most Copper Cathode Rod Plants Undergo Maintenance During New Year's Day, Expected to Resume in the First Week of 2025 [SMM Analysis]

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       This week, the SMM survey covered the production and sales of major medium and large domestic copper rod enterprises. The overall operating rate was 66.43%, down 8.49 percentage points MoM and 2.03 percentage points below the expected value. (Surveyed enterprises: 21, capacity: 8.13 million mt).

       This week, spanning 2024-2025, most enterprises focused on year-end cash recovery and scheduled maintenance, resulting in varying degrees of production cuts and shutdowns. During this period, downstream enterprises also slowed their ordering and picking up goods, leading to a greater-than-expected decline in the operating rate MoM.

       From the inventory perspective, with the operating rate declining for the third consecutive week, raw material inventories at major domestic copper cathode rod plants decreased by 5.94% MoM to 36,450 mt this week, while finished product inventories fell by 5.19% MoM to 53,000 mt. Looking ahead, after the New Year and the start of 2025, most copper cathode rod enterprises are expected to complete maintenance. Supported by current orders on hand, the operating rate of copper cathode rods is expected to rebound to 76.65% next week (1.3-1.9), up 2.91 percentage points YoY.

       Details of the survey on some copper cathode rod enterprises are attached.