Operating Rates Slightly Rebound from Lows, Industry Advances Under Pressure Amid High Copper Prices [SMM Brass Billet Market Weekly Review]

According to SMM data, the operating rate of brass billet producers was 48.42% this week, up 0.83 percentage points WoW, remaining at a relatively low level overall, with the recovery falling short of market expectations. Inventory side, the sample enterprises' days of raw material inventories were 3.72 days, and finished product inventories were 4.84 days, as enterprises continued to adopt a strategy of compressing inventory.

Looking ahead to next week, although some enterprises may engage in a slight rush to meet deadlines before year-end, constrained by persistently high copper prices, downstream acceptance is generally low, and growth in new orders remains weak. Particularly in traditional major consumption areas such as refrigeration, order recovery is slow, making it difficult to effectively support the overall industry operating rate. Therefore, SMM expects the operating rate of the brass billet industry to rebound by 1.67 percentage points WoW to 50.09% next week. Although it returns to above 50%, the absolute level remains relatively low.