According to SMM, the weekly (April 25 - May 1) operating rate of major domestic copper cathode rod enterprises increased slightly to 79.88%, up 0.33 percentage points WoW, 1.93 percentage points lower than the expected value, and continued to rise 18.25 percentage points YoY. One of the reasons was that the statistical period for the same week last year ended on May 2, 2024. This week, copper prices remained at recent highs. Although the operating rate increased slightly, supported by orders on hand from the previous period and stocking demand ahead of the Labour Day holiday, new orders and the execution volume of some long-term contracts decreased. As the Labour Day holiday approached, many copper cathode rod enterprises chose to take a 2-3 day break, with the operating rate 1.93 percentage points lower than the expected value.