According to SMM survey, the average operating rate of copper rod producers using copper scrap as raw material last week (June 17-23) was 49.57%, an increase of 6.78 percentage points from a week earlier. Increased substitution of copper rod produced with copper cathode by copper rod produced with copper scrap drove up operating rates.
Copper scrap sellers sold actively and most copper rod plants using copper scrap as raw material said that their raw material inventories reached safe levels. As the high copper prices kept downstream purchases cautious, the rise in operating rates was limited.
As of last Wednesday (June 21), copper rod produced with copper scrap in Jiangxi was quoted with a discount of 960 yuan/mt against SHFE front-month copper contract prices. Electric copper rod in east China was quoted with premiums of 1,020 yuan/mt over the contract, with a price spread of 1,980 yuan/mt between copper rod produced with copper cathode and copper rod produced with copper scrap.
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