June marks the traditional off-season for copper plate/sheet and strip consumption, with sluggish market demand. Coupled with persistently high copper prices, demand overdraft from the previous rush to export, and cautious sentiment due to uncertain tariff policies, overall market demand remained weak. New orders saw a significant MoM decline, and the operating rate weakened in tandem. According to SMM data, the operating rate of SMM copper plate/sheet and strip enterprises in June 2025 was 67.44%, down 2.68 percentage points MoM and 0.12 percentage points YoY. Looking ahead to July, most copper plate/sheet and strip enterprises expressed a lack of confidence in orders, continuing to cut production and reduce loads at the beginning of the month. SMM expects the operating rate of the copper plate/sheet and strip industry to decline by 3.99 percentage points MoM in July to 63.44%, a significant drop of 4.33 percentage points compared to the same period last year. The market downturn is likely to persist.