Operating Rates of Copper Wire and Cable Producers Rebound Steadily MoM, Demand Recovers Gradually Toward Traditional Peak Season [SMM Weekly Review of the Wire and Cable Market]

      This week (November 7–13), the operating rate of SMM copper wire and cable enterprises was 64.36%, up 0.91 percentage points WoW but down 25.01 percentage points YoY. As new orders from the previous copper price correction phase gradually entered the production schedule, many enterprises reported that since November, downstream market acceptance of current copper prices has improved, overall demand showed a slow recovery trend, and the industry is gradually moving toward the traditional peak season. To promote order intake, some enterprises actively adopted sales promotion strategies, driving continued improvement in new orders. However, with copper prices rebounding again during the week, the growth momentum of new orders slowed down slightly. By sector, automotive wiring harness orders remained stable, providing strong support for the overall operating rate; other downstream sectors also showed signs of recovery. In terms of inventory, enterprises continued restocking, with the raw material inventory/output ratio increasing by 1.86 percentage points WoW to 13,665 mt. Meanwhile, downstream cargo pick-up pace accelerated slightly, and finished product inventories declined modestly, with the finished product inventory/output ratio dropping 0.97 percentage points WoW to 18,920 mt. Looking ahead to next week, as current new orders on hand are still being scheduled in an orderly manner and overall production pace is gradually rebounding, SMM expects the operating rate of copper wire and cable enterprises to recover to 65.5% next week (November 14–20).