RC Reduction Fails to Ease Inventory Buildup, Weak End-Use Demand Hinders Resumption of Work at Copper Cathode Rod Enterprises [SMM Weekly Review of Copper Cathode Rod Production]

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       Copper cathode rod: The weekly (6.6-6.12) operating rate of major domestic copper cathode rod enterprises declined by 1.66 percentage points MoM to 73.21%, which was 4.32 percentage points lower than expected and 8.47 percentage points higher YoY. With the continuous weakness in end-use demand and copper prices fluctuating at highs, order performance declined during the week, and the production resumption progress of multiple copper cathode rod enterprises was hindered, causing the operating rate of copper cathode rod enterprises to decline more than expected this week. In terms of specific inventory, with the decline in the operating rate, the raw material inventory of copper cathode rod enterprises decreased by 3.51% MoM to 35,750 mt this week. Under the pressure of persistent weakness in end-use demand, downstream enterprises' purchasing sentiment remained low. Despite the reduction in copper cathode rod processing fees, it was still difficult to prevent the increase in finished product inventory buildup. The finished product inventories of copper cathode rod enterprises increased by 7.06% MoM to 63,650 mt this week. Looking ahead, multiple copper cathode rod enterprises still have production resumption plans after inventory reduction. It is expected that the operating rate of copper cathode rod enterprises will increase by 3.37 percentage points MoM to 76.59% next week (6.13-6.19), which will be 6.44 percentage points higher YoY. However, it should be noted that whether the operating rate of copper cathode rod enterprises can reach the expected level next week still depends on downstream consumption conditions.