Low-price orders boosted this week's operations, with cable operating rates continuing to rise WoW [SMM Wire and Cable Market Weekly Review].

This week (June 26 – July 2), SMM data showed that the operating rate of copper wire and cable enterprises reached 71.8%, up 1.42 percentage points WoW and up 3.99 percentage points YoY. The previous pullback in copper prices prompted downstream buyers to lock in orders intensively; coupled with the concentrated production of outstanding orders, this drove the operating rate to rebound WoW this week. End-use demand side, as the market entered the traditional consumption off-season, downstream procurement sentiment was generally weak, with only the power and new energy sectors holding up relatively well. Inventory side, copper prices moved sideways at high levels, causing wire and cable enterprises' willingness to procure and stockpile to shrink substantially, with raw material inventories down 2.14% MoM. Meanwhile, sluggish end-user cargo pick-up during the off-season led to slow warehouse withdrawals of fixed-price orders, pushing finished product inventories up 2.57% MoM. Looking ahead to next week, continued strength in copper prices is expected to suppress order release, compounded by weakening seasonal demand. SMM expects the operating rate of copper wire and cable to decline 0.75 percentage points MoM to 71.05% next week (July 3 – July 9), down 0.47 percentage points YoY.