Operating Rates of Aluminium Foil Companies are Lower than Expected in Feb, and to Barely Improve in Mar

SHANGHAI, Mar 16 (SMM) - The average operating rate of aluminium foil producers stood at 73.63% in February, down 4.90 percentage points YoY and up 0.93 percentage point MoM.

In February, the overall market picked up slowly thanks to the upcoming peak season, and many aluminium foil companies said that the order volume and their output increased. But for the approaching peak season, the market participants generally held a wait-and-see sentiment. Some aluminium foil companies said that the new orders still grew slowly as of March 9, which can barely drive up their operating rates. If the overall demand still picks up slowly in March, the aluminium foil consumption in the first half of 2023 may remain poor, and the operating rates of aluminium foil companies will hardly improve significantly.