Chinese Brass Billet Producers Hit by Rising Copper Prices

The operating rate of brass billet producers in China has continued to decline due to weak demand and rising copper prices, according to the Shanghai Metals Market. The weekly operating rate for sample enterprises was 48.68% as of August 6, down 0.13 percentage points from July and 1.19 percentage points year-over-year.

The tight supply of recycled brass raw materials has not eased, with raw material prices remaining high due to the increase in copper prices. The days of raw material inventories for sample enterprises stood at 3.5 days, indicating a cautious approach by producers to stockpile raw materials.

Although the downstream traditional off-season persists, some small-volume restocking on demand has been maintained. However, the destocking pace for brass billet finished products has been relatively slow, with days of finished product inventories for sample enterprises at 5.04 days this week.