Downstream Orders Picked Up at the End of Last Week

SHANGHAI, Apr 24 (SMM) – Wire and cable: Wire and cable orders last week did not change much compared with the prior week, but new orders improved at the week’s end after the copper prices fell. The growing demand from the real estate sector has not yet been fully transmitted to the cable sector, resulting in low orders for civilian cables. However, some enterprises reported that the orders for medium and low voltage cables picked up at the end of the week, and the consumption of civilian cables also improved from the previous week. Bidding orders from the State Grid in April decreased from March, and the delivery volume was also lower than expected, giving little boost to the demand for cables. 

Enamelled wire: Last week, orders for enamelled wire were affected significantly by copper prices. At the beginning of the week, orders change little, but near the weekend when copper prices moved down, the orders at large enterprises immediately increased, though orders at SMEs saw almost no change. Orders related to photovoltaics, wind power, transformers, and transportation sectors remained stable, and the operating rates of relevant enterprises were high, with production scheduled until early May. Orders from other traditional industries were stable, with no obvious signs of recovery.

Copper cathode rod: The average operating rate of key copper rod producers using copper cathode was around 63.79% last week, a drop of 1.27 percentage points from a week earlier. The order performance at the beginning of the week was lacklustre. But after the copper prices fell later, the orders increased significantly. The inventory of finished products at many enterprises thus fell to a normal level. According to SMM data, the price spread between copper rods produced with copper scrap and with copper cathode narrowed to 1,090 yuan/mt last Friday. The advantage of copper scrap rod weakened and its impact on copper cathode rod abated.