Production Rebound and Inventory Divergence Low Prices Promote Purchasing but Overall Pressure [SMM Weekly Data]

Weekly production

From August 23 to August 29, the weekly production of national sample magnesium plants was 18,076 mt, with a weekly operating rate of 59.3%, up 3.8% WoW.

Weekly inventory

This week, the production site inventory increased by 9.9% WoW. Downstream procurement slowed down due to the "rush to buy amid continuous price rise and hold back amid price downturn" sentiment. Coupled with the demand gap period where old orders have been completed and new delivery dates are still far off, market transactions were sluggish, and producer inventories continued to accumulate.

This week, social inventory slightly increased by 0.61%, while monthly inventory decreased by 4.98% MoM. On one hand, some traders' inventories decreased after completing month-end deliveries; on the other hand, with magnesium prices hitting bottom recently, traders actively stockpiled and fulfilled previous orders, leading to an overall flat inventory for the week. In August, foreign trade orders were still in the concentrated delivery phase, resulting in an overall downward trend in inventory levels.