SMM data shows that the operating rates of brass billet producers continued to exhibit weak performance this week, declining 0.83% MoM to 51.18%. There was significant divergence among enterprises, with orders for some continuing to weaken, showing clear characteristics of the off-season. Meanwhile, orders for a small number of enterprises gradually stabilized, but the overall market activity remained unchanged from last week. At the same time, current market demand is weak, and the high-level fluctuations in brass prices have led to chaotic quoting. Enterprises have been forced to reduce copper billet prices to boost sales, with little effect. In terms of inventory data, the days of raw material inventories for SMM samples increased 0.79 days MoM to 5.26 days, while the days of finished product inventories increased 0.37 days MoM to 7.11 days. This was mainly due to slightly looser raw material supply and a slight accumulation of finished product inventories amid declining demand. Looking ahead to next week, given the continued sluggish downstream demand and the intensified wait-and-see sentiment amid high copper prices, SMM expects the weekly operating rates of brass billet producers to decline further by 0.19% to 50.99%.