[SMM Weekly Operating Rate of Copper Wire and Cable Enterprises] This week (5.16-5.22), the operating rate of SMM copper wire and cable enterprises was 82.34%, down 1.05 percentage points MoM and up 6.47 percentage points YoY, 1.64 percentage points lower than the projected operating rate. As enterprises' orders on hand continued to deplete and the growth in new orders showed signs of weakness, the operating rate of enterprises weakened MoM this week. A major enterprise told SMM that as of now, although its copper consumption for production in May increased by approximately 6% YoY, the value of its new orders this month decreased by nearly 20% YoY. In addition to weakening demand, the growth in orders for aluminum wire and cable also squeezed the operating rate of copper wire and cable enterprises. Affected by these two factors, SMM projects that the operating rate of copper wire and cable enterprises will decline by 1.36 percentage points MoM to 80.98% next week (5.23-5.29), 5.05 percentage points higher than the same period last year.