SHANGHAI, Apr 13 (SMM) - The operating rates are estimated to average 88.14% in April, up 1.08 percentage points month on month and 21.87 percentage points year on year. The year-on-year surge was due to output cuts in the same period last year when rampant pandemic and hampered logistics pushed the finished product inventories of wire and cable producers to alarmingly high levels. From a month-on-month perspective, backlog orders have gradually become depleted, while new orders have slowed down sharply after the rebound in copper prices. There will be limited increase in order delivery to State Grid in April, while orders from the photovoltaic sector will soften with the arrival of the off-season for PV installations in the second quarter. It is worth noting that the installed capacity of distributed inland wind power and floating offshore wind power has increased this month, which will boost the demand for copper wire and cable.
Notes: SMM surveyed 40 producers with a combined capacity of 3.09 million mt/year.
