This week, the SMM survey covered the production and sales of major domestic medium and large copper rod makers. The overall operating rate was 80.92%, up 6.03 percentage points MoM, exceeding the expected value by 1.11 percentage points, and up 11.59 percentage points YoY. (Surveyed enterprises: 21, capacity: 7.83 million mt)
This week, copper prices stabilized after a decline, and downstream orders continued to be stable. Meanwhile, with the supply of recycled rods remaining low, the copper cathode-copper scrap substitution brought more new orders to copper cathode rod makers. Some enterprises in Jiangsu reported new orders from northern and southern China, indicating a continuous improvement in consumption. Most copper cathode rod makers are increasingly confident in future consumption.
From the inventory perspective, as large enterprises resumed production this week, the raw material inventories of copper cathode rod makers increased by 17.63% MoM to 38,700 mt. Finished product inventories decreased by 5.53% MoM to 59,800 mt due to both stock consumption and improved consumption.
Looking ahead to next week, two large enterprises faced equipment issues affecting their operating days this week. It is expected that the total operating days will increase next week with stable consumption, and the operating rate of copper cathode rod makers is expected to rise to 81.35%.
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