This week, the operating rate of SMM copper wire and cable companies is 70.77%, an increase of 0.24 percentage points compared to the previous week.

This week, the operating rate of SMM copper wire and cable companies was 70.77%, up 0.24 percentage points month over month. Overall, production operations remained steady, and the market performance was rather lackluster. During the week, the pullback in copper prices suppressed the release of new orders, but companies had sufficient in-hand and pending-to-be-delivered order backlogs, supporting stable production. New orders across downstream segments were generally weak; among them, the home decoration sector was particularly lackluster, dragged down by higher plastic raw material prices.

Regarding inventories at electrical wire and cable companies this week: earlier copper price pullbacks drove companies to replenish supplies in a concentrated manner. This week, raw materials were mainly consumed from stockpiles, so raw material inventories fell 2.7% month over month. For finished goods inventories, the copper price pullback slowed downstream pickup speed, so finished goods inventories decreased slightly by 2.65% month over month.

Looking ahead to next week, continued copper price choppy fluctuations will keep disrupting end-market procurement sentiment. At the same time, rising plastic prices will create cost pressure. However, existing orders will continue to support companies’ production planning, leaving limited room for further declines in operating rates. SMM expects next week’s operating rate for copper wire and cable to fall 1.54 percentage points month over month to 69.23%, and to decline 5.99 percentage points year over year. (SMM)