Copper Plate/Sheet and Strip: Emerging Track Supported Consumption, July's Off-season Was Stronger-than-usual, August Operation Edged Down [SMM Analysis]

            According to SMM, In July 2026, the comprehensive operating rate of the copper plate/sheet and strip industry was 74.53%, down 0.43 percentage points MoM and up 8.91% YoY.Among them, the operating rates were 84.2% for large enterprises, 54.75% for medium-sized enterprises, and 70.82% for small enterprises.

       July was the traditional off-season for the copper plate/sheet and strip industry. The seasonal weakening of regular end-use demand was in line with earlier market expectations, but the overall industry operation showed sufficient resilience. The full-year growth from emerging sectors effectively offset the off-season decrease in traditional sectors, achieving a stronger-than-usual off-season with a significant YoY increase.Demand for copper plate/sheet and strip in booming sectors such as transformers, AI computing centers, energy storage, new energy components, and integrated circuits remained solid. Orders for copper strip and various alloy plates/sheets and strips performed steadily, while lead frame-related orders continued to trend positively. Diverse emerging demand underpinned the overall rigid demand of the industry, supporting the sharp YoY increase in operating rates.

       On the inventory side, the overall supply of spot cargo in the copper plate/sheet and strip market was sufficient in July, and most enterprises' inventories returned to reasonable levels. SMM data showed that the finished product inventory days of the copper plate/sheet and strip industry in July was 5.41 days, up 0.3 days MoM, and the overall industry inventory was at a normal level.

       SMM expects the comprehensive operating rate of the copper plate/sheet and strip industry in August to be 73.27%, down 1.26 percentage points MoM and up 7.4 percentage points YoY.The industry remains in the traditional off-season in August, and regular downstream demand is difficult to see significant recovery. Additionally, the center of copper prices continued to rise early in the month, intensifying wait-and-see sentiment among downstream buyers and dragging on the release of new orders. Some enterprises have concerns about the sustainability of subsequent orders. However, current demand from terminal sectors such as computing power, energy storage, new energy, transformers, and integrated circuits forms a bottom support. According to SMM, most enterprises currently have orders on hand that can be scheduled for production until mid-month.Although high copper prices impose some restraint on consumption, the impact in August is relatively controllable. The industry's operating rate is expected to edge down slightly, but it will still maintain YoY growth.