SMM, January 3:
According to SMM survey data, the operating rate of secondary copper rod reached 21.74% this week (18 surveyed enterprises, total capacity of 1.94 million mt/year), down 6.49 percentage points WoW and 16.15 percentage points YoY. The average price spread of refined and secondary copper rods this week was 729 yuan/mt, a decrease of 29 yuan/mt from last week's 758 yuan/mt. Meanwhile, the average discount of secondary copper rod in Jiangxi was 180 yuan/mt, down 10 yuan/mt WoW. After the New Year’s Day holiday, some secondary copper rod plants opted for a short-term production halt to observe the actual impact of policies, leading to a decline in the operating rate of secondary copper rods this week.
According to the SMM survey, secondary copper rod enterprises that continued normal production had stockpiled some secondary copper raw materials before the New Year’s Day holiday, while those that halted production mainly faced insufficient raw materials or concerns about potential increases in raw material costs after policy implementation, which could result in unnecessary losses. This week, the finished product inventories of the surveyed secondary copper rod enterprises stood at 3,900 mt, down 1,850 mt from last week's 5,750 mt.
Looking ahead to next week, as the year-end approaches, secondary copper rod enterprises that have halted production show weak willingness to resume operations. The operating rate next week is expected to be 22.93%. However, some secondary copper rod enterprises need to fulfill pre-holiday orders, which will slightly increase production, resulting in only a marginal rise in the operating rate of secondary copper rods next week.
