The operating rate of brass billet producers declined slightly this week, and orders are expected to improve in August [SMM Weekly Review of Brass Billet Market]

       According to SMM data, the operating rates of brass billet producers this week stood at 49.77%, down slightly by 0.1 percentage points MoM. From enterprise feedback, orders remained stable overall this week, without significant fluctuations. In terms of inventory, the days of raw material inventories for SMM's sample enterprises decreased by 0.09 days MoM to 3.61 days, indicating a relatively low reserve level. The days of finished product inventories increased by 0.12 days MoM to 6.11 days.

        Looking ahead to next week, SMM expects the weekly operating rates of brass billet producers to increase slightly by 0.13 percentage points MoM to 49.9%. Enterprises indicated that the current market is still in the traditional off-season, with weak end-use consumption. Meanwhile, the tight supply of raw materials has also posed certain constraints on production. However, enterprises reported that there have been signs of improvement in current orders compared to the previous period. Based on this, SMM expects the overall orders in August to exceed those in July.