Copper semis industry's operating rate showed a seasonal recovery in March

SMM estimates that copper semis production in March was 2.21 million mt, an increase of 52.41% from the previous month; the average operating rate of the copper semis industry in March was 69.82%, a rise of 30.36 percentage points from the previous month, but a drop of 6.83 percentage points year-on-year.

The average operating rate rose across all the copper semis sectors: copper pipe (85.97%) > copper plate/sheet and strip (73.07%) >copper rod made of copper cathode (71.14%) > copper billet (61.93%)> copper foil (60.44%)> copper rod made from copper scrap (50.54%). Due to the booming orders in the air-conditioner and home appliance industry this year, the copper pipe operating rate continued to rise, leading the gains in operating rates across copper semis industry; affected by factors such as the slow recovery of the electronics industry, the copper foil industry's operating rate increased by only 18.22 percentage points in March, the smallest among all copper semis sectors.

In March, the overseas economy showed signs of steady growth and continued to accelerate its recovery. The European manufacturing PMI was 48.4%, up 0.4 percentage point from the previous month, rising for three consecutive months. The manufacturing PMI of the Americas was 50.6%, an increase of 2 percentage points from the previous month, ending the 16 consecutive months of standing below 50%. That indicated that the recovery of the manufacturing industry in the Americas has strengthened. China’s export volume increased month-on-month in March, which was also reflected in the increase in the new export orders index in March, which increased by 5 percentage points from February to 51.3%. In terms of domestic demand, domestic manufacturing output and demand rebounded in March, driving the recovery of productive services. The demand for various copper semis increased significantly, but the continued high copper prices constrained the increase in consumption.