As the holiday approaches, the operating rate of copper cathode rods steadily increases, yet the sustainability of consumption remains in question. [SMM Weekly Review of Copper Cathode Rod Production]

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         Copper Cathode Rod: The weekly operating rate of major domestic copper cathode rod enterprises (4.18-4.24) rose as expected to 79.56%, up 1.48 percentage points MoM, 0.41 percentage points lower than the expected value, and continued to increase by 8.88 percentage points YoY. This week, the center of copper prices moved higher, while the destocking of copper cathode kept premiums and discounts firm. Under the suppression of high copper prices and high premiums, new orders for copper cathode rod enterprises significantly decreased. However, due to sufficient low-priced orders on hand, the production schedule supported the operating rate to rise as expected. In terms of specific inventory, due to the rise in premiums and discounts, copper cathode rod enterprises controlled procurement this week, with raw material inventory decreasing by 7.2% MoM to 39,950 mt. Finished product inventories of copper cathode rod enterprises also slightly decreased by 1.47% under the normal cargo pick-up rhythm of previous orders, recording 60,400 mt. Looking ahead, as the Labour Day holiday approaches, according to SMM, many copper cathode rod enterprises are expected to take 2-3 days off, creating some stockpiling demand. The operating rate is expected to rise to 81.81% next week, supported by pre-holiday stockpiling, up 2.25 percentage points MoM. Compared to the same period last year, which was the Labour Day holiday, it increased by 20.18 percentage points YoY. However, it is worth noting that most copper cathode rod enterprises expressed concerns about insufficient consumption momentum in the future, and attention should be paid to the price trend after the Labour Day holiday.