Production Pace of Brass Billet Enterprises Diverged Significantly in April

This week (July 10 – July 16), SMM copper wire and cable enterprise operating rate was 68.96%, down 1.88 percentage points MoM and down 3.94 percentage points YoY. Industry production load continued to weaken. During the week, copper prices continued to rise, suppressing downstream willingness to sign new orders. Coupled with the traditional consumption off-season, overall end-use demand was weak, and overall order performance in the market was mediocre. Demand in sub-sectors generally lacked highlights, with only orders from State Grid released steadily. The rise in copper prices drove some rush-to-buy replenishment retail orders from end-users, providing bottom support for this week's operating rate.

SMM copper wire and cable enterprise inventory this week, affected by high copper prices and the price spread between futures contracts, wire and cable enterprises' willingness to stockpile raw materials remained sluggish, with raw material inventories falling 3.13% MoM. The rise in copper prices stimulated downstream end-users to rush to pick up goods amid the price rise, leading end-users to concentrate on consuming their existing finished product inventories, which fell 1.89% MoM.