Operating Rates of Brass Billet Producers Edged Down WoW, Expected to Rebound Next Week [SMM Brass Billet Market Weekly Review]

       According to SMM, the operating rate of the brass billet industry fell 0.61 percentage points WoW to 46.98%. The decline in the operating rate was mainly due to two factors: first, the impact of the New Year's holiday last week led to temporary shutdowns at some enterprises, directly causing a contraction in overall industry production; second, copper prices continued to fluctuate at highs after the holiday, significantly suppressing downstream purchase willingness, with a strong wait-and-see sentiment in the market. Only during brief pullbacks in copper prices did a small number of replenishment orders emerge, and the order structure was dominated by rigid demand from emerging sectors such as new energy and high-end equipment, while demand from traditional low-end segments like sanitary hardware remained persistently weak. Inventory side, the industry's raw material inventory was 3.71 days, slightly down from the previous period; days of inventories for finished products increased 0.12 days WoW to 5.85 days, indicating a slight inventory buildup in the industry.

       Looking ahead to next week, as holiday disruptions completely subside and copper prices pull back to relatively low levels, downstream enterprises are expected to be stimulated to replenish stocks, and rigid demand orders from emerging sectors are also anticipated to continue being released. Overall, SMM expects the operating rate of the brass billet industry to rebound 0.35 percentage points WoW to 47.33% next week.