Raw Material Price Inversion and Demand Slowdown Led to Continuous Decline in Operating Rates of Brass Billet Producers [SMM Brass Billet Market Weekly Review]

The operating rate of the brass billet industry was 52.91% this week (4.17-4.23), down 0.77 percentage points WoW. Copper prices continued to fluctuate at highs, and enterprises mainly relied on earlier orders on hand to sustain production, while new orders continued to weaken. Meanwhile, recycled brass raw materials supply remained tight, raw material prices were severely inverted, enterprises faced prominent cost pressure, and raw material inventories pulled back slightly to 4.2 days. Demand for high-precision and customized brass billet products remained relatively stable, while shipments of standard-specification products slowed down notably, and days of finished product inventories of sample enterprises edged up to 5.51 days. Looking ahead to next week (4.24-4.30), considering that copper prices remain at highs, new orders are weak, and raw material prices stay high, SMM expects the industry operating rate to further decline by 0.38 percentage points to 52.53%.