SMM

This week, the SMM survey covered the production and sales conditions of major domestic medium and large copper rod enterprises. The overall operating rate was 84.26%, up 1.82 percentage points WoW, but 0.43 percentage points lower than expected. (Surveyed enterprises: 21, capacity: 7.83 million mt).

During the week, copper prices continued to rise, and new orders significantly decreased compared to last week. Downstream maintained just-in-time restocking, but many enterprises reported sufficient orders during the low copper price period last week, allowing production schedules to extend to the end of this week. Additionally, some enterprises indicated the need to restock due to maintenance plans at month-end or in December, and northern enterprises accelerated production to avoid pollution impacts, driving the expected rebound in operating rates. Furthermore, the cancellation of the copper rod export tax rebate policy, effective December 1, led to some export orders this week, also supporting the increase in operating rates.

From an inventory perspective, with the rebound in operating rates, the raw material inventory of major domestic copper cathode rod plants increased by 4.54% WoW, reaching 46,050 mt. Meanwhile, finished product inventories of copper cathode rod enterprises decreased by 9.06% WoW, recording 49,200 mt, while maintaining a normal shipping pace. Looking ahead, many large enterprises plan to maintain full production to meet annual targets. The weekly operating rate of major domestic copper cathode rod enterprises is expected to remain at 84.86% next week (11.22-11.28).