National Day Holiday Coupled with High Copper Prices, Brass Billet Operating Rate Expected to Drop to 43.61% Next Week [SMM Brass Billet Market Weekly Review]

SMM data showed that the operating rate of brass billet producers this week was 48.49%, up 0.71 percentage points WoW, remaining in the medium-to-low range overall. Inventory side, raw material inventory at sampled enterprises stood at 5.61 days, slightly higher than the previous period; finished product inventories rose to 7.3 days WoW, due to slower cargo pick-up by downstream users and the impact of pre-holiday stockpiling for the National Day holiday.

Next week, as the National Day holiday approaches, most brass billet producers plan to give production workers 3–5 days off. Notably, copper prices broke through the high of 82,000 yuan/mt this week, significantly dampening downstream purchase willingness and disrupting their original pre-holiday stockpiling rhythm. Facing cost pressure, downstream enterprises exhibited strong wait-and-see sentiment, with some even considering extending the holiday to cope with current market volatility. As a result, SMM expects the operating rate in the brass billet sector to drop 4.87 percentage points WoW to 43.61%, maintaining a generally flat trend overall.