According to SMM data, the operating rates of brass billet producers fell to 57.18% this week, down 3.94 percentage points WoW. The industry did not show signs of recovery after the Labour Day holiday, with enterprises extending their holidays, experiencing a YoY decline in orders, and struggling with weak growth in new orders. Export-oriented enterprises were severely impacted by the US tariff policy, with some valve manufacturers nearly halting production. High copper prices and policy uncertainty suppressed downstream cargo pick-up, causing enterprises' raw material inventories to increase to 6.09 days and finished product inventories to reach 8.32 days, with a significant slowdown in turnover. However, considering the gradual digestion of downstream inventories and the absence of a significant increase in copper prices, SMM expects the operating rate to rebound by 1.76 percentage points to 58.94% next week.