The average operating rate of key copper rod producers using copper cathode was around 68.89% last week (September 15-21), a drop of 2.89 percentage points from a week earlier.
Last week, the operating rates diverged across different regions. The copper rod plants using copper cathode as raw material in south China in the survey sample said that they would close for a longer period this year than the same period of previous years. They are expected to start stocking up next week. Last week, they controlled the inventory of finished products, slowing down the production pace. Operating rates in east China performed better.
During the week, downstream cable factories were stocking up in advance, and some copper rod companies stepped up production after the copper price fell back in mid-week, leaving the operating rates at high levels. Copper rod plants using copper cathode as raw material adjusted their production pace according to their own production schedules and will usher in a peak stockpiling period next week. As copper prices fell last week, some downstream companies started pre-holiday stockpiling operations, boosting the consumption of copper rod produced with copper cathode.
The price advantage of copper rod produced with copper scrap weakened further last week, boosting consumption of copper cathode rod.
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